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PROBLEMS 



OF 



CREATION 



JO* STANLEY GRIMES, 

Counselor -at- Law. 

AUTHOR OF GEONOMY, AND MYSTERIES OV THE HEAD 

and Heart. 



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CHICAGO : 
HENRY A. SUMNER & CO., PUBLISHERS^ 

1881. 



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Copyrighted 1881, 
HENRY A. SUMNER & CO., 

CHICAGO. 



PREFACE. 



The following essays, so far as they relate to the 
origin of planets, continents and mountains, contain the 
substance of a series of lectures on the Problems of 
Creation, given before a company of friends who 
styled themselves "The Scientific Tribunal," and who 
assumed the task of discussing questions of priority in 
discoveries and advances in science. In accordance 
with a previous arrangement, a gentleman whom we 
shall name Scepticus was appointed to raise objections 
and elicit explanations; another gentleman, Amicics, 
who had previously made himself thoroughly acquainted 
with the views of the lecturer, volunteered to defend 
them. 



Problems of Creatio 



N 



PROBLEM I. 

ORIGIN OF MATTER AND FORCE. 

If we attempt to find our way into the past his- 
tory of the world, books and manuscripts lead us but 
a short distance. We then resort to monuments 
and ruins and the relics that we find among the 
former habitations and graves of remote generations. 
Next we betake ourselves to stratified rocks and to 
fossils, and by means of these we reach a time when 
the ocean covered the entire globe. We then corn- 
template the earth as a planet, and, adopting the 
nebular theory, (though not that of Laplace,) we 
assume that there was a time when the earth and all 
the planets were connected with the sun, and when 
the whole together was a rotating mass of nebulous 
matter, more thin and attenuated than any gaseous 
substance with which we are acquainted. Whence 
came this nebulous matter ? It is highly probable 
that it formerly existed in a still more expanded 
state, and consisted of ether (etherium), a substance 
that fills all space and permeates all planetary bodies; 



2 PKOBLEMS OF CREATION. 

a substance the condensations and undulations of 
which produce light, heat, magnetism and electric 
phenomena. Possibly etherium was the original 
mother matter of the chemical substances that con- 
stitute all worlds. 

Force (energia) is that which causes or which resists 
motion. When the constituent atoms or molecules of 
any substance have a great degree of motion among 
themselves they are driven far apart, and the mass 
is then said to be expanded — it occupies a large 
space; when it loses a part of its expansive force it 
is said to be contracted or condensed. Etherial mat- 
ter has more motion among its constituent atoms 
than any other substance. When it loses a certain 
quantity of its expansive force it becomes nebulous 
(cloud-like) matter; when the nebulous matter loses 
a certain part of its force it becomes planetary 
matter. 

Force or energia receives various names, according 
to the sources from which it appears to be derived, 
and the manner in which it manifests itself. Its 
original source, so far as reason and science can 
trace it, is in etherium. Its first function (assuming 
that all matter was originally etherial) was to keep 
etherium in an expanded state. When the etherial 
matter became condensed and nebulous, and the . 
nebulous masses collided, the collision produced 
axial rotatory motions, some of which ultimately 
resulted in orbital motions. 

The condensation of matter in the sun is the 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 5 

cause of its radiant light and heat ; the conden- 
sation of aqueous vapors is the cause of mist and 
rain ; the expansive force set free by condensation 
appears to us as heat and light or as lightning ; 
when coal or other fuel burns, the resulting heat is 
not derived from the coal, but from the condensing 
oxygen. The expression often used, even by scient- 
ists, that our coal is a vast reservoir of heat force, 
is erroneous. It is the expanded oxygen that con- 
tains the force which results from combustion. The 
force of the human body, the force of the human 
mind — is all derived from the oxygen in the blood. 
A brain, large and well-formed, may produce 
thoughts— profound, correct, beautiful — while the 
current of blood is small, but long continued mani- 
festations of normal passionate energy can only pro- 
ceed from a healthy brain that is well supplied with 
oxygen. Sleep, trance, tremens, fainting, result 
from the lack of good oxygenated blood in the tis- 
sues. 



PKOBLEMS OF CREATION. 



PROBLEM II. 

CAUSE OF GRAVITATION. 

Gravitation is the tendency of matter to concen- 
trate. We know of no cause of concentration 
except a loss of expansive force (heat, light, elec- 
tricity). When etherial particles come in contact 
with ponderable planetary molecules, the particles 
lose a part of their expansive force and become as- 
similated to planetary matter. The force (heat and 
light) thus set free is radiated away, and the ethe- 
rial matter is condensed. This condensing and 
radiating process produces vacua, which the sur- 
rounding etherium moves to fill. This movement, 
thus produced, is the cause of gravitation. The 
greater a mass, that is to say, the greater the num- 
ber of molecules it contains, the greater is the quan- 
tity of etherium that it condenses and assimilates, 
and consequently the greater is its (so called) 
attractive force. 

Scepticus. — There are several objections to this 
novel theory of gravitation. One is that, if true, it 
would follow that the radiation of force would be 
in proportion to the mass; another is that every 
ponderable mass would be continually growing 
larger. Neither of these propositions can be proved ; 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 5 

a third objection is that the quantity of heat evolved 
in planets would probably be greater than that lost 
by radiation, and thus concentration, the very basis 
of the nebular theory, would fail. 

Amicus. — There is some apparent reason in these 
objections, but it is a question whether their force is 
sufficient to overthrow the theory. It must be con- 
sidered that the effects of gravitation are so slight 
that it is only when observed in large masses that 
they can be appreciated, and of course the radiation 
must be equally feeble. As far as we know, the 
largest celestial bodies are the most radiant. In re- 
gard to the increase of bodies by etherial assimila- 
tion, it is a question whether human life is long 
enough to enable us to ascertain, by observation or 
experiment, whether the theory is true or not. 

It is an interesting fact that gravitation and radi- 
ation act in contrary directions, and that both de- 
crease in the ratio of the squares of the distances. 
We know that the radiant force is generated among 
the constituent molecules of the radiating mass, and 
consequently it is most powerful there : it is reason- 
able to presume that the same is true of gravitation. 
We know that gravitation is not a force emanating 
from the mass as a whole, but from its smallest con- 
stituents, since the force increases or diminishes in 
proportion to the increase or diminution of those 
constituents. 

In justice to the lecturer, however, it should be 
stated that he does not regard this hypothesis as one 



6 PKOBLEMS OF CREATION. 

susceptible of proof; he only insists that it is 
more reasonable than any other that has been ad- 
vanced. 

Scepticus. — I am glad to hear that it is a mere hy- 
pothesis, that is, an experimental or tentative theory, 
which may be set aside as soon as a more plausible 
one can be substituted. I have no objection to such 
theories ; indeed, it is only by mental experiments of 
this kind that true theories can be found. The dis- 
coveries of Copernicus, of Columbus, of Newton, 
of Leverrier, were at first mere guesses that were 
subsequently verified. 

Allow me to mention another objection. If all 
the celestial bodies are assimilating and condensing 
etherium, and radiating heat and light, where does 
the radiant force go ? and what is to prevent the 
etherium from all being used up, and thus bringing 
nature to a standstill ? 

Amicus. — It is generally assumed that gravitation 
is a law of all infinitum. But this is not certain. 
The universes with which our telescopes make us 
acquainted are so limited, compared with the un- 
known and infinite, that we are not warranted in 
assuming that gravitation is omnipresent. There 
may be vast regions of space in which expansion, 
instead of gravitation, is the law ; where planetary 
matter is gradually returning to its original etherial 
state, and where the movements of gravitation and 
radiation are reversed. In this manner, the balance 
of nature would be kept even. But speculation is 



PEOBLEMS OF CREATION. 7 

not science. We shall be satisfied if this hypothesis 
can be made to appear probable, or even plausible. 
Huygens, the great philosopher and the friend of 
Newton, declared that in science there is glory in 
arriving at probability. 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 



PROBLEM III. 

ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 

Let us suppose that in a vast region of infinite 
space the etherial matter gradually radiated away 
its heat, and thus changed into nebulous matter. 
Let us suppose that a large number of nebulous 
clouds were thus formed at no great distance from 
each other. The mutual attraction of these cloud- 
like masses would ultimately bring them into col- 
lisions which would cause the united mass to rotate 
upon its axis. It was from such a rotating nebula 
that, according to the opinions of our most eminent 
astronomers, the solar system was formed. There 
being at first no central sun, the parts farthest from 
the center of the nebula moved fastest, and those near- 
est the center slowest. The etherial matter presented 
some resistance to the nebulous movements, and this 
resistance tended to carry the nebulous matter to the 
center. The parts of the nebula that were the least 
dense and those parts that moved most rapidly were 
most affected by the etherial resistance. Rotation, 
gravitation and the resisting medium necessarily 
caused a great variety of chemical elements to press 
together into the center where combustions and radi- 
ations would be certain to occur and produce a 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 9 

condensed mass — a sun. This central mass, though 
at first small, continually increased until it either 
absorbed or controlled the whole nebula, and intro- 
duced the laws discovered by Kepler and Newton. 
That portion of the nebula that was most distant 
from the center possessed the most centrifugal force, 
and could not therefore be drawn into the sun, but 
formed a revolving disk, analogous to Saturn's disk 
of rings. All but a seven-hundredth part of the 
matter of the solar system is concentrated in the sun. 
This disk, from which all the planets were made, 
was a very small part of the original nebula. 

Scepticus. — Our lecturer was not the first to assert 
that the planets were formed from a revolving disk, 
for that was a part of the hypothesis of Laplace. 
That great geometer began by assuming the pre- 
existence of a sun and a disk, without attempting 
to account for the origin of either. Applying well- 
known mechanical laws, he arrived at the conclusion 
that the disk would cool and shrink until the cen- 
trifugal force of its outermost parts would just equal 
the sun's attraction, and would therefore separate 
from the main body and become a distinct ring. The 
rmain body would then shrink still more, and produce 
a second and a third ring, and so on, Mercury being 
the last. In several astronomical works that have 
been published lately, I have noticed that the au- 
thors have admitted that the sun and disk were 
created separately, and so far they agreed with La- 
place ; but they denied that the rings were succes- 



10 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

sively thrown off from the outer parts of the disk, 
and adopted the opinion that they were all formed 
at one time. 

Amicus. — The lecturer was the first, as far as our 
information extends, to suggest that the resisting 
medium was one of the causes that operated to con- 
centrate the matter in the center, and thus create a 
sun and disk. He was also the first to remark that 
the difference of the planets in density was the ne- 
cessary effect of the resisting medium. His idea 
was that the matter which was the least dense would 
be winnowed from the more dense, and that this 
would occur most decidedly in the interior parts, 
where the orbital velocities were greatest. Before 
the sun was created the axial velocity of the nebula 
was greatest at the outer parts, but afterward it was 
greatest in the inner parts ; consequently the least 
dense planet (Saturn) is near the middle part of the 
disk. Furthermore, he was the first, as far as we can 
learn, to attempt to explain how the disk could be 
separated into rings in any other manner than that 
supposed by Laplace, and also how the rings changed 
into globes. 

Scepticus. — Will you please to give us the dates 
of his first publications of this theory, so that those 
who claim priority can verify their claims, or see the 
justice of admitting his ? 

Amicus. 1. About twenty-five years ago he pub- 
lished it in a newspaper in Brattleboro, Vermont, 
and submitted it to the criticism of General Phelps, 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 11 

of that city, who, I believe, was a graduate of West 
Point. 

2. In a lecture given in Boston, in 1857, before 
the members of the Mercantile Library Association, 
he explained this theory and illustrated it by large 
paintings, made for the occasion by John S. Bugbee, 
Esq., an officer of the association, and now a citizen 
of San Francisco. 

3. In 1866, he published it in his geonomy. (Bos- 
ton: Nichols & Co.) Let us now proceed. 

INTERVALS AND MAGNITUDES. 

Assuming that the planets were formed from a 
revolving disk, the question is : How came they to 
differ as they do in their magnitudes and their inter- 
vals? No one, except the lecturer, has proposed 
even a plausible hypothesis on the subject. His 
theory is that the forces that acted on the disk 
tended, or, so to speak, attempted to separate it into 
rings, which, when concentrated into planets, would 
have intervals successively wider with distance from 
the center. This attempt was but partially success- 
ful, as will be seen by the table of the planetary 
distances and intervals. " Bode's law" was an en- 
deavor to represent the ratio of increase of the 
intervals, by a mathematical formula. Notwith- 
standing the failure of this law, the fact still remains 
that the intervals of the planets, and also of the 
satellites, as a general rule, increase with distance 
from the primary. 



12 . problems of creation. 

Bode's (or Titian's) Law. 

A scheme to show how near the intervals of the 
planets come to being successively doubled, 



Inter- Actual Actual 
vals. Distances. Intervals. 



Distances. 

Mercury 0+4= 4 3.9 

3 3.3 

Venus 3+4= 7 7.2 

Q O O 

Earth 6+4= 10 10.4 

6 5.2 

Mars. 12 + 4= 16 15.2 

12 12.8 

Asteroids 24+4= 28 28 

24 24 

Jupiter 48+4= 52 52 

48 43.4 

Saturn 96+4=100 95.4 

96 96.5 

Uranus 192+4=196 191.9 

102 108 

Neptune 384+4=388 300.6 

It will be observed that the interval between Ura- 
nus and Neptune falls far short of the requirements 
of Bode's law. 

Humboldt, in his Cosmos expresses a doubt whether 
the cause of the planetary intervals and magnitudes 
will ever be known. He probably assumed that the 
hypothesis of Laplace (that the planets were succes- 
sively thrown off from the outer parts of the 
nebula) was true ; and it is certain that on his 
hypothesis the relative magnitudes and intervals can 
not be explained. 

NEW THEORY. 

The following appears to be the true explanation : 
As soon as the disk was formed, two opposing forces 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 13 

acted upon it : one was the mutual attraction of its 
parts, which, unopposed, would have held it together 
as a single disk ; the other was the tendency of the 
parts that differed in distance from the center to 
differ in their orbital velocities. This force, unop- 
posed, would have separated the disk into a great 
number of exceedingly narrow rings, each differing 
from all the others in velocity. The compromise or 
resultant of the two forces, would (all else equal) 
have been that the disk would have separated into a 
definite number of rings which would have been 
successively wider with the distance from the center. 
When the rings were all concentrated into planets, 
their intervals would also have successively in- 
creased. 

Scepticus. — The fact of the increasing intervals is 
well known, though no theory has heretofore been 
invented to account for it. If the lecturer's theory 
were the true one, it would necessarily follow, not 
only that the intervals would increase with distance, 
but that they would increase in a regular mathe- 
matical ratio, and the orbital velocities would differ 
by a common difference : That is to say, if the 
planet nearest the sun were A, and the next B, 
the third C, and so on ; and if the velocity of A 
differed 10 from that of B, the velocity of B would 
differ 10 from that of C, and so on through the 
series. This is far from being the case in the solar 
or in the satellitic systems. . 

Amicus, — Very true, but if the disk had been 



14 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

uniform in thickness and density, the intervals and 
the magnitude would both have increased in a 
definite ratio. Let us suppose the force of 
mutual attraction in all parts of a disk to have been 
uniform, and to have been represented by 10 ; of 
course it would have required a force (produced by 
the difference of velocities) at least equal to 10 to 
rupture the disk and form a ring. And as (by 
virtue of the force of gravitation combined with cen- 
trifugal force) the velocities decrease in the inverse 
ratio of the square roots of the distances, it would 
have required a wider and wider interval (width of 
ring) to obtain the necessary differences of velocities. 
But if the disk were very thick in some parts and 
thin in others (as it actually was), the intervals and 
magnitudes of the planets would be irregular. There 
would still be an attempt, so to speak, to produce 
increasing intervals and magnitudes, but the attempt 
would be only partially successful. To illustrate 
this theory, let us imagine an ideal system, formed 
from a uniform disk in which the magnitudes and 
intervals increase with distance ; let us represent 
this by a table. Now make another table to repre- 
sent the actual relative intervals and masses of the 
planets. Of course the largest planets were made 
from the thickest parts of the disk, and the smallest 
from the thinner parts. Let us now make a similar 
table of the satellites of Jupiter, and another of those 
of Saturn. Upon comparing these, we find that the 
three systems are formed upon one plan, and evi- 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 15 

dently by the operation of similar causes. In each 
system we find more than two-thirds of the matter 
located in that third of the disk nearest to the 
center. In the outer parts of the solar system, 
where, in the ideal, the planets would be the 
largest, they (Uranus and Neptune) are relatively 
small ; and in the interior third, where, in the 
ideal they would be small, we find Jupiter con- 
taining more than twice as much matter as all the 
other planets together. Even Mercury, the small- 
est of the planets, is many times larger than one 
in the same position would be in the ideal uniform 
system. 

This whole theory may be stated in a single sen- 
tence : The two forces that acted on the disk, when 
it was first formed, tended to make the intervals and 
magnitudes successively greater with distance from 
the center in a regular ratio, but the abnormal 
quantity of matter collected in the inner parts of the 
disk prevented this regularity. 

On comparing the three tables of the planets and 
satellites, we find that in each system there is one 
gigantic globe, containing more matter than all the 
others of that system together. This giant is placed 
in the interior third of the radius of the system. It 
was here that the disk was thickest ; and this thick 
part, by its powerful attraction, resisted the tendency 
to divide it into narrow rings. It attracted to itself 
the matter from a great distance, and thus created 
two abnormal intervals, one on each side, and formed 






16 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 






a large massive ring or belt, leaving the outer and 
inner remainders of the disk to form two other belts. 
Each of these three belts afterwards concentrated 
into a single globe — unless it was thin and wide 
enough to separate and form several globes. 

Let us recapitulate. 1. The first tendency of a 
nebula was to concentrate all its matter into a single 
globe. This really occurred in the case of Mercury 
and Venus. 2. When a nebula failed to concentrate 
the whole into one globe, the remainder assumed the 
form of a revolving disk. The tendency of the 
thick middle part of the disk was to attract to itself 
all the matter and form a single globe. This occurred 
in our terrestrial system. We have but one moon, 
and that is relatively larger and much more dense 
than any other satellite. Probably its nebula was 
also more dense than any other, and for that reason 
it is all concentrated into one body. 3. In Jupiter's 
disk the massive middle belt concentrated into one 
large satellite (Ganymede) containing more matter 
than all the other three together. The outer belt 
also concentrated into one globe ; but the inner belt 
divided into two small satellites, with narrow inter- 
vals. 4. Saturn is the least dense of all the planets, 
and his original nebula was probably the least dense 
also of all, except that of the solar system. This 
fact, added to his rapid axial velocity is, perhaps, the 
reason of the extraordinary diameter of his system. 
Saturn's middle belt divided and produced two 
globes, one of which (Titan) is truly the giant that 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 17 

his name implies. The other (Hyperion) is much 
smaller, but very near Titan, thus indicating that 
they were originally one belt. (See the table.) The 
inner belt gave birth to five small satellites with 
very narrow intervals, besides the beautiful rings 
that have not yet concentrated, though they have 
separated into three belts. The outer belt of Saturn's 
disk has concentrated into one large globe (Japetus). 
Here we have a fine illustration of our theory. In 
the inner part of this system, where the velocities 
are greatest and the disk thin, five small moons, with 
narrow intervals, are created ; and in the outer part 
of the system, at a great distance from the center (and 
where the velocities must have been relatively slow), 
an amount of matter that appears to be greater than 
that in all the five inner moons, is concentrated into 
one. 5. In the solar system the middle belt divided 
and produced Jupiter and Saturn. The quantity of 
matter contained in this belt, when compared with 
that of all the other planets, is as 39 to 3-f. (See 
table.) It is therefore by no means strange that it 
has created such a wide interval on each of its sides. 
The outer belt produced Uranus and Neptune, with 
an interval that is probably normal, and the only one 
that is so ; it has therefore been made the basis of 
the ideal system and the table. The inner belt, be- 
ing situated where the velocities are very great, and 
where the disk was relatively thin, is divided into 
four small planets, besides the asteroids. 



18 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

Scepticus. — How does this theory account for the 
production of the asteroids ? 

Amicus. — After the rings were formed, and before 
they were concentrated into globes, each ring, in 
consequence of gradual condensation, broke up into 
separate nebulous masses, which moved in different 
orbits, and consequently soon came near enough to 
so attract each other as to come into collision and 
form a single planet, the axial rotation of which was 
caused by these collisions. But the asteroidal ring 
was so perturbed by the attraction of the enormous 
mass of Jupiter (when Jupiter existed as a ring), as 
to prevent the asteroids from concentrating into one 
globe. The small quantity of matter in the aster- 
oidal ring, and also the small quantity in Mars, 
plainly indicate that Jupiter has appropriated to 
himself a quantity of matter that, in a fair division, 
would have been given to the planets below him. 

Some astronomers have supposed that the aster- 
oids are fragments of an exploded planet. It is a 
much more reasonable supposition that they are the 
fragments of a nebulous ring which was prevented 
from concentrating by the attraction of Jupiter 

Scepticus. — If this theory is true — if in a uniform 
or ideal system there would have been a common 
difference of orbital velocities, and if the difference 
between the velocities of Neptune and Uranus 
(3,000) represents the common difference — then, in 
the actual solar system, there should be some indica- 
tions of that difference, notwithstanding the varia- 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION 19 

tions of the disk in thickness ; that is to say, the 
difference between any two planets' velocities should 
be a multiple of 3,000. I do not mean to insist that 
it should be precisely that in every instance, and to 
a fraction, but it should be so near as to indicate 
that it is not a mere coincidence. 

Amicus. — In 1866, the lecturer published a table 
to show that there is some evidence of a common 
difference, but he now regards such tables as more 
curious than convincing ; for it is impossible to prove 
that the coincidences are not merely accidental. I 
will, however, give you the table and let you judge 
for yourselves whether or not it is a mere play upon 
numbers. 

Velocities Actual 
by Theory. Velocities. 

Velocity of Neptune 12 12 

Add 3=3 

Velocity of Uranus _ _ 15 15 

Add 3x2= 6 

Velocity of Saturn 21 21 

Add 3x3= 9 

Velocity of Jupiter 30 29 + 

Add 3x8= 24 

Velocity of Mars 54 54 

Add 3x4= 12 

Velocity of Earth 66 66 

Add 3x4= 12 

Velocity of Venus 78 77 

Add 3x9= 27 

Velocity of Mercury 105 106 



20 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

Scepticus. — Does the lecturer suppose that any 
law regulates the axial rotations of the planets ? 

Amicus. — He supposes that the rotations were 
originally caused by the collisions of the nebulous 
masses that united to constitute the globes. But 
when a nebulous globe was once formed, and began 
to shrink and contract, as its diameter diminished its 
rotation increased. Its present velocity, therefore, 
depends upon its original velocity, to which is added 
the increase gained by contraction. 

Now suppose a large and a small nebulous globe 
to be made (in consequence of collision) to rotate 
with equal rapidity, the large one would, by con- 
traction, increase its velocity much more than the 
small one, the constituents of which had shrunk and 
condensed in the same degree. Mars, Earth, Venus 
and Mercury, are small and dense, and so, doubtless, 
were their original nebulae, and therefore they have 
shrunk less than the larger and less dense planets — 
possibly this is the principal reason that they rotate 
more slowly than Jupiter and Saturn. 

AN IDEAL SYSTEM. 

Let us assume that the two most distant planets 
(Uranus and Neptune) are so small and so distant 
from each other that the disk was not thick enough 
in the part from which they were made to prevent 
their interval from being a normal one. If this were 
the case (disregarding the fractions) the difference 
of velocities (3,000 miles per hour) between Uranus 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 21 

and Neptune would be also the common difference 
between any two next neighboring planets. And 
as the orbital velocities of planets are in all cases 
inversely as the square roots of their distances 
from the primary, we have a simple means of 
knowing what the intervals and masses must nave 
been in an ideal uniform system, and how far the 
actual solar system deviates from it. 

The annexed table is constructed on this hypoth- 
esis. As the masses and magnitudes of the planets 
in such a system must be as the areas of the inter- 
vals, we have the means of estimating them also 
with sufficient accuracy for our purposes. If any 
critic is capable of detecting errors in the table, he 
must also be able to understand that they are too 
slight to affect the general conclusions. It appears 
that if the solar system had been produced from a 
disk of uniform thickness and density, and had been 
so thin that the planets could not have been massive 
enough to perturb each other destructively, there 
would have been one planet between Uranus and 
Saturn ; two between Saturn and Jupiter ; seven 
between Jupiter and Mars ; three between Mars and 
Earth; three between Earth and Venus and eight 
between Venus and Mercury. 






22 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 



Ideal System. 

Orbital o n -Rant* Distances Relative 

Planets. T «BS«^£^ MiSiU Intervals. Masses 

per hour, "trances. of Miles> Piauets. 

1st. Neptune.... 12 5267 2774 232 

1000 

2d. Uranus 15 4213 1774 90 

542 

3d. 18 3511 1232 38 

327 

4th. Saturn 21 3004 905 19 

212 

5th. 24 2633 693 10 

145 

6th. 27 2340 548 6 

104 

7th. Jupiter 30 2106 443 3.60 

76 

8th. 33 1915 366 2.14 

58 

9th. 36 1755 308 1.647 

45 

10th. 39 1620 262 1.025 

36 

11th. 42 1504 226 .786 

29 

12th. ■ 45 1404 197 .441 

24 

13th. 48 1316 173 .397 

21 

14th. 51 1233 152 .254 

15 

15th. Mars 54 1170 137 .212 

14 

16th. - — 57 1108 123 .161 

11 

17th. 60 1053 111 .124 

10 

18th. 63 1003 100 .101 

9 
19th. Earth 66 957 91 .0868 

20th. 69 911 83 .0555 

6 

21st. 72 877 77 .0505 

5.9 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

Orbital „„ • Rn „ fQ Distances 

Plains Velocities bq ' £° ots in interval* 

Planets. Miles of Millions Intervals. 

per hour, stances. of Miles< 
22d. 75 843 71 

5.4 
23d. Venus 78 810 65 ' 

4.8 
24th. 81 780 61 ■ 

4.3 
25th. 84 752 56 

O Q 

26th. 87 726 53 - 

3.4 
27th. 90 702 49 

3 2 
28th. 93 679 46 - 

2.7 
29th. 96 658 43 

2.5 
30th. 99 638 41 

2.3 
31st. 102 619 38 

2.1 
32d. Mercury .._.105 610 36 



23 

Relative 

Masses 

of the 

Planets. 

.0427 , 
.0351 
.0307 
.0225 
.0206 
.0176 
.0142 
.0124 
.01099 
00932 
.00767 






Jupiter's System op Satellites. 

Distances 
in Miles. 

§WS 10 - 260,000 

Cfl3«rH 

« M ££ Europa 414,000 

|il§ GANYMEDE.. ...661,000 

feast! Calisto 117,200 



Intervals. 



154 



247 



501 



24 problems of creation. 

Saturn's System of Satellites. 

(Newcomb.) 

Distances. Intervals. 

Mimas ? 

Enceladus '.. „ ? 

g Tethys 42.70 

n 11.90 

| Dione 54.60 

S 21.52 

Rhea 76.12 



100.63 



4 TITAN ...176.75 

as 

* 37.47 

| Hyperion ....214.32 



300.42 



3 JAPETUS 514.64 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 



25 



Solar System. 






Planets. Masses. 

Mercury 7 

Ssgfoo Venus 79 

gigs Earth 100 

Mars 12 

Jupiter ..30,000 

•d~ mo 
«e «j ego 

Saturn 9,000 



Distances 




Orbital 


in 

Millions 


intervals. 


Velocities. 
Miles 


of Miles. 




per hour 


^U 


31 

26 

49 


106.38 


m% 


77.296 


92% 


66.108 


141 


53.964 



480 



401 



29.06 



881 



21.427 



890 



Uranus 1,300 



1771 



15.120 






1004 



Neptune. 1,700 



2775 



12.090 



26 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

It will be observed that in the Solar system the 
quantity of matter in the middle belt is to that in 
the other two belts as 39 is to 3 -f-; in Jupiter's system 
it is as 88 is to 82 ; in the Terrestrial system it takes 
the whole. In Saturn's system the masses are not 
well known, but Titan is the largest of all known 
moons. It will be noticed that Hyperion is remark- 
ably near to the giant Titan, thus confirming the 
hypothesis that it was at first united with Titan, and 
a part of the middle belt. 

The Asteroids are situated between the middle 
and the inner belts of the Solar system, and do not, 
therefore, belong to either. Possibly similar aster- 
oids will yet be found between Saturn and Uranus. 



PKOBLEMS OF CREATION. 27 



PROBLEM IV— GEONOMY. 

THE CREATION OF THE OCEANS AND CONTINENTS- 

1. When the great navigators of the 16th century, 
by their discoveries, had enabled geographers to 
make correct outline maps of the world, they natur- 
ally began to speculate concerning the peculiar forms 
and analogies of the continents. They were un- 
able, however, to invent a reasonable hypothesis. 
Humboldt, in his Cosmos, expressed a doubt whether 
the problem would ever be solved. Dr. Edward 
Hitchcock, the eminent geologist, remarked that it 
would be a strong recommendation of any new the- 
ory of the earth, if it would furnish an explanation 
of the continental forms. Ritter, A. K. Johnson 
and Guyot called especial attention to the fact that 
the continents consist of three somewhat analogous 
pairs. Guyot, after remarking that there is a North 
and South Pacific and a North and South Atlantic, 
adds that "the Indian is but half an ocean." It is 
true that there is now only a South Indian, but Ge- 
onomy points to the conclusion that there was form- 
erly a North Indian ocean. 

According to the theory which we propose to 
explain, the ocean currents all tend to flow in ellip- 
tical circuits of such dimensions that there is not 






28 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

room enough to form an ellipse any where except 
between the equator and the 45th parallel. There is 
satisfactory evidence that before there was any dry 
land there were three elliptical currents each side of 
the equator. The sediment accumulated on the 
ocean's floor, within the limits of these ellipses, in 
greater quantities than elsewhere, and by its weight 
produced the North and South Atlantic, Pacific and 
Indian sinking basins. The lava that was crowded 
away from beneath these basins was forced into the 
angular inter-oceanic spaces, which being thus ele- 
vated became the continents. 

Note. — The word Geonomy is from two Greek words, £•<?, the earth, 
and nomos, a law, and is analogous to astronomy, which is from 
Astron, a star, and nomos. (See Worcester's Unabridged Dictionary.) 

IDEAL MAP. 

2. If the northern and southern ocean basins 
had been placed symmetrically, opposite each other, 
and if the sediment had been so distributed as to 
cause all the basins to sink equally, in all their parts, 
the continents of the two hemispheres would have 
been equal, similar and symmetrical. There would 
have been three continents projecting southward from 
the arctic circle, three similar continents projecting 
northward from the ant-arctic, and three angular 
tropical continents, equally divided by the equator. 
Let us denominate this the ideal map of the world. 
(See diagram.) 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 29 

3. Let us now enquire in what particulars the 
actual map of the world differs from the ideal, and 
what were the causes of the departures. One very 
important departure is that each of the southern 
oceans is placed between 45° and 50° east of its 
northern mate. A consequence of this variance is 
that the isthmus of Central America trends northwest 
instead of north, and the same is true of the par- 
tially submarine isthmus that connects Asia with 
Australia. 

4. Another consequence is that Australia and 
nearly all of South America are south of the equator, 
instead of being equally developed on the north and 
south sides of it. The northern half of South 
America is suppressed and its place occupied by the 
West Indies, the western extremity of the North 
Atlantic. In the same manner the northern half of 
Australia is suppressed and its place occupied by 
the East Indies, the western extremity of the 
North Pacific. When the North Indian existed, its 
western portion covered northern Africa, and was 
analogous to the West Indies. Southern Africa then 
was above the ocean and was like Australia now, all 
south of the equator. Let northern Africa be sunk, 
all but a few islands, and we should have the West 
Indies repeated, and southern Africa would be a 
repetition of South America and Australia. On the 
contrary, let the East and West Indies become dry 
land, and we should at once see their resemblance 
to northern Africa. These analogies have resulted 



30 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

from the fact that the three northern ellipses were, 
so to speak, pushed about 50° westward, so that the 
equatorial current flows over the area that otherwise 
would have been occupied by the northern halves of 
the three tropical continents. 

5. A second important departure from ideal sym- 
metry was the great development of the ocean in the 
southern hemisphere and of the land in the northern. 
The southern basins, by sinking, suppressed the em- 
bryo ideal southern continents, and forced the subja- 
cent lava across the equator, under the crust, and thus 
elevated the northern continents to an abnormal de- 
gree, extended them further southward than they 
otherwise would have been, and elevated them above 
their normal height. 

6. A third departure — a consequence of the 
second — was that the floor of a large area of the 
North Indian ocean was raised above the sea and 
added to the continent of Asia, Europe and South 
Africa. By this proceeding these three continents 
are nearly connected together, and one vast complex 
continent created. By restoring, on a map, the North 
Indian, it will be seen that all of northern Africa, 
the eastern part of Europe, and the western part of 
Asia were formerly covered by this ocean, which 
then was analogous to the North Atlantic and the 
North Pacific. 

Scepticus. — The first question that I will raise is 
in relation to the currents flowing in ellipses when 
there was no land. This statement is inconsistent 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 31 

with what we are supposed to know, and what is 
taught by the best authorities. It is undoubtedly 
true that there is an elliptical current or whirl in 
each of the five great oceans, but they are supposed 
to depend principally upon the forms of the ocean 
basins. The differences of climate cause warm cur- 
rents to flow poleward and cold currents to flow 
tropicward, and the earth's rotation causes poleward 
currents to turn more or less easterly and tropicward 
currents westerly. This is all plain, and is taught 
in our school books. But no one, except the author 
of geonomy, has pretended that an ocean current 
will flow in an elliptical circuit by virtue of these 
two forces (climate and rotation) only. The de- 
flecting influences of winds and shores are, by all our 
geographers, regarded as necessary to cause currents 
to flow in ellipses. This is the main point. If it is 
really a fact that before there was any dry land there 
were three pairs of elliptical currents flowing be- 
tween the equator and the 45th parallels, and if it 
«an be rendered probable that the weight of the 
sediment produced depressions, the rest of the 
geonomical theory logically follows; for this will at 
once account for the number, the positions and the 
forms of the continents. 

Amicus.— In 185T the lecturer (J. S. G.) observed 
that the currents, in many instances, flowed in 
directions that could not then be explained on any 
known theory. For example, a current flows at 
least two thousand miles, almost due east, from the 



82 PEOBLEMS OF CREATION. 



Banks of Newfoundland, in the 45th parallel, with 
out any sufficient reason that had ever been given. 
Upon investigation he found that in each of the five 
great oceans a current flows eastward in nearly the 
same latitude (45°). He also noticed that in each 
instance, before the current has proceeded entirely 
across the ocean, it changes its course and curves 
toward the equator. Again, in each ocean, near the 
equator, a large current flows almost due west more 
than two thousand miles, but while in mid ocean it 
turns poleward. Furthermore, there are several 
large counter currents that all the geographical 
authors acknowledge to be inexplicable. 

Any particular place at the equator moves east- 
ward upwards of a thousand miles per hour ; and 
the rate of motion is continually less as we proceed 
toward the pole. If a man could be instantly trans- 
ferred from the Gulf of Mexico (20th parallel) to 
the Banks of Newfoundland (45th parallel), he 
would find himself moving eastward more than twa 
hundred miles per hour. If, on the contrary, he 
could be instantly transferred from the Banks to the 
Gulf, he would find the earth slipping past him east- 
ward, at the rate of two hundred miles per hour. 
It is not strange, therefore, that the currents are so 
much affected when they flow from one latitude to 
another. 

As a result of these investigations he pointed out 
an important fact that had been overlooked by all 
his predecessors. It was that when a current flows 



. 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 33 

poleward it is not only deflected eastward, but it 
accumulates more and more easting (relative easterly 
tendency) the further from the equator it flows. 
For this reason it can not proceed more than twenty- 
five degrees poleward without acquiring so much 
easting that it is forced to flow nearly due east 
several thousand miles. On the contrary, when 
flowing tropic-ward it accumulates westing (relative 
westerly tendency) until it is compelled to flow 
nearly due west several thousand miles. This dis- 
covery, when added to what was known before, 
becomes a key to all the mysteries and apparent 
anomalies of the ocean currents. 

Let us apply this theory to the North Atlantic 
ellipse. 

(1.) The current (the so-called Gulf Stream) 
that flows from the Gulf of Mexico (20°), acquires 
so much easting by the time that it reaches the 
Banks of Newfoundland (45°) that it flows east 
nearly across the ocean. (2.) That part of it which 
comes to the surface, or which comes in contact 
with cold water, cools and turns southeasterly. 
Near the 30th parallel the easting is exhausted ; 
(3.) the current then flows southwesterly, but before 
it reaches the equator it accumulates so much west- 
ing that (4.) it flows nearly due west several thou- 
sand miles. (5.) While flowing west that part of 
it which becomes warm flows northwest (6) until it 
reaches the Gulf of Mexico again. Tts westing is 
then exhausted and its elliptical circuit is completed. 



M PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

Before this theory was announced no geographer 
could give a sufficient reason why a current in the 
northern hemisphere flows southeast or northwest. 
Authors attributed the current that flows into the 
'Gulf of Mexico to the winds, and to the South 
American shores, shutting their eyes to the fact that 
in every ocean a current flows continually in its 
ellipse regardless of both shores and winds. 

If a current could move through the ocean (as 
the planets are supposed to move through space) 
wdthout encountering any resistance, it would flow 
more or less easterly from the 20th parallel on the 
western side of the ocean until it reached the 20th 
parallel again on the eastern side. It would then 
flow westerly until it reached the 20th parallel on 
the western side once more. But it expends so 
much force on the way that it ceases to flow 
easterly at the 30th parallel and westerly at the 
20th ; it therefore makes an irregular ellipse. The 
currents, however, do not always commence flow- 
ing easterly precisely at the 20th parallel, or 
westerly at the 30th. The ellipses change north and 
south with the seasons. Were it not for this fact, 
there might have been east and west isthmuses near 
the equator. If the oceans had the same annual 
swinging motion east and west, that they have north 
and south, there would have been no isthmuses. 

Look on a good map and see the current leave the 
coast of California and flow southwest amid all the 
changes of the wind. See another current leave the 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 35 

west coast of South America and flow northwest ; 
see still another leave the east coast of South America 
and flow southeast and then in mid ocean turn and 
flow northeast. See a counter current generated 
near the equator in the North Pacific, and flowing 
northeast, while the elliptical current is flowing 
parallel with it in the contrary direction. This 
counter current is warm, of course, therefore, it 
must flow northeast ; but the westerly current is a 
part of the ellipse and brings its westing with it 
from the cold north ; in other words, it is its inertia 
— its accumulated westing — that impels it west- 
ward. 

LOCAL CURRENTS. 

Besides the great elliptical currents, there are 
necessarily a great many local and limited currents. 
A cold local current always flows toward the equator, 
and is deflected more or less westward by the earth's 
rotation. But a warm local current always flows 
away from the equator, and is deflected eastward by 
rotation. These currents often flow a short distance 
parallel with a section of an elliptical current, but 
in a contrary direction. The reason of this is plain 
to any one who has studied this elliptical theory ; 
but these counter currents have been a puzzle and a 
stumbling block in the way of our geographers. 
They have overlooked the effects of inertia upon 
the currents, and therefore they could not under- 



db PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

stand why a current flows northwest into the Gulf of 
Mexico, or east and southeast from the Banks of 
Newfoundland. Neither could they understand why 
one current flows west and northwest near the 
equator in the North Pacific, while another current 
flows northeast by its side. 

Between the ellipses, and beyond them, north and 
south, all the currents are of a local character, and 
the lands beyond the 60th parallels are modified by 
them, and not by the ellipses. 

It is not necessary to go more into details. It is 
sufficient to prove that all currents tend to flow in 
ellipses of a certain magnitude, and that when they 
have room enough they will do so. 

Scepticus. — Allow me to ask — what determined 
the magnitudes of the ellipses, so that there are just 
three in each hemisphere ? 

Amicus. — The two forces that produce the cur- 
rents are definite and nearly invariable, and conse- 
quently the ellipses have a tendency to become 
equally so. These forces are the sun's heat and the 
earth's axial rotation, the effects of which, when 
there was no land, were but slightly varied by local 
circumstances, and the ellipses, therefore, must have 
been nearly equal to each other. If the earth's 
rotation had been more rapid, the ellipses would 
have been smaller and more numerous. By studying 
the curves made by the currents, it would not be 
difficult for a good mathematician to demonstrate 
that the forces which produce ellipses are such that 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 37 

no more than three could be formed in one hemi- 
sphere. 

Scepticus. — Admitting that before there was any 
land there were three pairs of ellipses and all of 
them between the equator and the 45th parallels, 
and that the weight of sediment produced six sink- 
ing basins, let me ask — whence came the sediment ? 
It is understood that the currents do not abrade the 
the bottom of the sea, and there was then no shore 
to furnish material. 

Amicus. — We know very little concerning the 
condition of the earth when the ocean first fell upon 
it. It is now believed by eminent chemists that 
nearly all the metals found in the earth were origin- 
ally dissolved in the ocean waters and have been 
precipitated from them. We can not estimate the 
quantity of meteoric matter that fell upon the 
earth and into the ocean during the long primitive 
geological ages. There is, however, less uncer- 
tainty concerning the chemico-vital precipitations 
that formed limestones. We know that some of 
them accumulated on the bottom of the sea several 
miles in thickness. But we have no positive knowl- 
edge concerning the coarser sediments (sand and 
gravel), until we derive it from the earliest dry 
land. We can only reason from what we know t 
and we know nothing of the origin of the immense 
collection of sediment that is brought to our view 
in the Laurentian Hills of Canada. There must 
have been abundant sources of sediment somewhere,. 



3§ PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

before that most ancient of lands was raised, and 
there certainly have been abundant sources since. 

It is true that the present ocean currents do not 
abrade the bottom of the sea, but this can not be 
said of the first waters that fell upon the earth and 
gave birth to the ocean. What effect those abra- 
sions had in disturbing the equilibrium of the earth's 
crust we have no means of learning. 

Scepticus. — You speak of the southern hemisphere 
being depressed, and sending lava across the equator 
to raise the crust of the northern hemisphere. 
What evidence have we of such a proceeding ? 

Amicus.— (1.) The southern oceans are deeper 
than the northern ; that is to say, they have been 
more depressed, yet the southern continents are less 
elevated and extensive than the northern. We 
know, therefore, that the ]ava which was displaced 
by the southern depression did not proportionally 
raise the southern lands, and if it did not cross the 
equator and raise the northern lands, what did be- 
come of it? 

(2.) Another fact is, that the three southern 
continents (the ideal counterparts of Asia, Europe 
and America,) are suppressed, and deep oceans 
occupy their places. 

(8.) The ant-arctic region is raised above the sea 
while the arctic is below it. 

(4.) The ocean seems to grow gradually more and 
more shallow from the southern temperate zone to 
the Arctic sea. 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 39 

(5.) In Europe, Asia and North America the first 
lands that emerged from the ocean were those near 
the Arctic sea, and from that latitude during the 
geological ages, they have gradually extended them- 
selves southward. 

All these facts are consistent with the hypothesis 
that the southern oceans' floor subsided and forced 
its subjacent lava north and south. That part of it 
which moved south raised the ant-arctic lands, and 
that which moved north crossed the equator and 
pushed as far as the arctic, but not in sufficient 
quantities to raise any northern lands above the sea. 
It however caused the northern seas to be so shallow 
that a comparatively slight depression of the northern 
ocean basins produced the early emergence of the 
lands near the Arctic sea. 

Scepticus. — One would suppose that the southern 
depression would have raised the land above the sea 
nearer the sinking area instead of extending the rise 
as far as the arctic circle. 

Amicus. — There must have been a very large area 
of gradual subsidence as well as of elevation to pro- 
duce such long and gentle slopes and acclivities. 
The distance to the ant-arctic was comparatively 
short and therefore the rise was more abrupt ; to the 
arctic the distance was longer and therefore the rise 
was more gentle. The most abrupt elevations of 
mountains, as well as of continents, are those that 
have resulted from the most narrow and abrupt 
depressions. 



40 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

Scepticus. — I notice that Reclus, and some other 
writers, have lately stated that there was formerly 
an ocean between western Asia and eastern Europe. 
Did the author of Geonomy borrow the idea from 
that? 

Amicus. — In his Geonomy published in 1857, he 
announced the former existence of a North Indian 
ocean. Before that time no one that we know of 
had ever suggested the idea. It had been remarked 
that the Caspian region was " semi-marine," but no 
one had supposed that all northern Africa and the 
area occupied by the Caucasus, the Alps and the 
Hindoo Kosh mountains, and even the mighty Him- 
alaya, was formerly the bed of an ocean analogous 
to the North Atlantic, and that it was the northern 
mate of the South Indian. The truth is, that the 
recognition of this ocean was the logical consequence 
of the elliptical theory. 

If it can be proved that this ocean never existed, 
Geonomy is untenable. A true theory or law leads 
by deduction to the discovery of new facts. As 
soon as the laws of the ocean currents were known 
and applied, they pointed to the truth that there 
was once a North Indian as well as a South Indian, 
and that the area of northern Africa was analogous 
to the East and West Indian archipelagoes. 

The mere fact that water once covered northern 
Africa and a large part of Europe and Asia, would 
be of but little importance were it not for the bear- 
ing that the fact has upon the elliptical theory. But 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 41 

it is extremely interesting now to trace the effects of 
the ellipse upon the present forms and limitations of 
the lands within the area which the North Indian 
formerly occupied. 

Scepticus. — Does this theory shed any light on the 
causes of the glacial and drift phenomena ? 

Amicus. — It suggests the following hypothesis : 
The southern depression and the northern elevation 
commenced in the earliest geological period. It 
created a gradual and gentle rise from the southern 
temperate zone to the border of the Arctic sea. It 
did not itself directly cause any lands to emerge 
from the ocean, but it raised the crust so as to cause 
the ocean to be less deep — especially near the arctic 
circle. The consequence was, that when the north- 
ern Atlantic and Pacific ocean basins sank only a 
relatively short distance, they raised the lands on 
their northern borders in America, in Europe and in 
Asia. The northern elevations continued during all 
the geological ages, until the channels through which 
the Arctic sea communicated with the great oceans 
were blocked up and the Arctic left alone in its 
dreariness. But the atmosphere was not excluded ; 
'clouds rushed from the warm south, and rain, hail 
and snow were poured down upon this desolate area 
for centuries. The enormous glaciers thus produced, 
thousands of feet thick, crept, like monstrous cold 
blooded reptiles, over the temperate zone, destroy- 
ing with their chilly breath every living thing in 
their path. The northern parts of the continent at 



42 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

length subsided beneath the heavy load, the barriers 
of the Arctic sea gave way and poured a flood of 
water, which conveyed gravel and boulders on ice 
over half the temperate zone. The northern lands, 
being relieved from their burden, rose again nearly 
to their former level. The new channels thus made 
(or greatly enlarged) between Europe and America 
prevent, for the present, a repetition of the terrible 
invasion, though there are some premonitory symp- 
toms of future danger. 

Baffin's sea and the Iceland sea both intervene 
between America and Europe, and these channels- 
are doubtless necessary to prevent a recurrence of the 
glacial drift phenomenon. Had these seas not been 
created, Iceland and Greenland would have been a 
part of Europe, just as Oregon, Columbia and Alaska 
are a part of North America. The shattered condi- 
tion and diminutive size of Europe are owing to the 
fact that the principal arctic channel has been made 
to pass through her rightful territory. 

Sceptieus. — According to Geonomy the six oceans 
should have been nearly alike in their dimensions. 
But the North Atlantic is much smaller than the 
Pacific. 

Amicus. — There can be no doubt that the ellipses 
were primitively nearly alike in their dimensions, 
but the irregular and unequal elevations tended to- 
vary them. If the waters of the North Pacific could 
now be raised 500 fathoms, such large areas would 
emerge that this ocean would be but little larger 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 43 

than the North Atlantic. The North Indian, as its 
bottom rose, continued to contract its dimensions 
until nothing is left but a few narrow inland seas. 

Permit me to call your attention to one important 
circumstance that corroborates our theory. Geog- 
raphers have often remarked the analogies of the con- 
tinents. It seems as if the causes that produced 
North and South America repeated the process and 
produced Europe and Africa, and then repeated it 
again to produce eastern Asia and Australia. The 
elliptical currents do not extend further from the 
equator than the 45th or 50th parallel. The oceanic 
depressions which they produce can not, therefore* 
extend much nearer the pole than the ellipses do. 
If the sides of the basins were perpendicular the 
land would rise near the 50th parallel. But there 
is a gradual rise, so that the land (the edge of the 
basin) does not generally emerge until we reach the 
60th or 65th parallel, which is 25° from the pole. 
In accordance with these principles we find that the 
repetitions of continental forms are confined within 
the same limits. Beyond the 60th parallel in neither 
hemisphere are there to be seen any of those remark- 
able analogies which have excited so much comment 
and which constitute such an interesting feature in 
the temperate and tropical zones. 



44 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 



PROBLEM V. 

( 

CREATION OF MOUNTAINS. 

Mountains were not upheaved in consequence of 
the great and general oceanic depressions that raised 
the continents. They resulted from local and lim- 
ited depressions, produced by the weight of sediment 
conveyed by waves from the pre-existing shores, and 
deposited upon the beds of the seas in lines parallel 
with the shores. Some of these depressions may 
have been made by the weight of sediment deposited 
on the ocean's floor in lines parallel with the shores. 
This may have been true of the Andes; but nearly 
all the mountains resulted from depressions made in 
submarine portions of the continents while they were 
rising. If all the continents on all their sides had been 
raised equally and simultaneously, as in the ideal plan 
they are supposed to be, there would have been no 
mountains except on the borders of continents. But 
when an inland sea was created, its bed, in many in- 
stances, sank, and raised mountains on the borders 
of that sea. 

Note. — Mountains may be conveniently divided into upheavals 
which result from depressions ; corrugations which result from lateral 
pressure ; and bluffs which result from the erosion of adjoining 
areas. 

Note. — " Observations on the pendulum have been supposed to 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 45 

show that the specific gravity of the earth under mountain chains is 
generally less than in the adjoining plains." 

" The heavier masses pressing upon the interior fluid would tend 
to elevate the surrounding lighter masses, and where the two were in 
equilibrium the latter would be the higher, as a floating block of 
pine wood will rise higher out of the water than a block of oak." — 
NewcomVs Astronomy, p. 299. 

Note. — The author of Geonomy has advanced no theory con- 
cerning the causes of the fluidity of the matter below the crust. He 
only insists that the conditions below the crust are such that weight 
produces subsidence, the reaction of which causes elevations. 

RELATIONS OF CURVES TO MOUNTAINS AND BASINS. 

Islands and mountains produced by sinking local 
basins, are generally curved, with their concave sides 
toward the basins the sinking of which raised them. 
All the upheaved mountains in the interiors of con- 
tinents, were originally raised in consequence of the 
sinking of the bottoms of inland seas that then ex- 
isted near them. But the forces that afterwards 
raised the whole area, or the continent, above the sea, 
acted specially on the mountains and elevated them 
more, for the reason that they presented less resist- 
ance than the heavily loaded basins. 

Volcanoes burst forth in mountains rather than in 
valleys, not so much because there is greater pressure 
there, as because there is less resistance to the up- 
ward pressure of the lava that is raising the conti- 
nent. Large areas in the South seas, containing 
many volcanic islands, are known to be rising, while 
other areas that are not volcanic are sinking. 

We are now prepared to understand the process 






46 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

by which the North Indian ocean basin was raised, 
and converted into a complex aggregation of moun- 
tains and valleys. Some of its lands are lower and 
others higher than any others in tire world. Accord- 
ing to the primitive ideal plan, no part of this area 
was intended (so to speak) for dry land. It was not 
one of the continental areas, but one of the six 
oceanic basins. By the aid of geology we are able to 
determine, approximately, the positions and trends of 
the first shores and mountain ranges that were created 
within its limits. Eastern China, India and Southern 
Africa were above the sea before any of the east and 
west mountains of Europe and Asia were created. 
The bottom of the North Indian rose slowly, and con- 
tracted the area of the doomed ocean, until it became 
a long, narrow inland sea — a Mediterranean that ex- 
tended from eastern China to France. The Altai 
mountain range rose on the north shore of this sea, 
and extended east and west, as its parent shore did ; 
the water then retreated further south, and gave birth 
to a new shore and a new and parallel range of moun- 
tains. This process was repeated until the Himalaya 
rose — the youngest of the series, of which the Altai 
was the first born. This part of the inland sea had 
the North Pacific on its eastern, and the South In- 
dian on its southern side. The north and south 
mountain ranges of Asia were raised by depres- 
sions along the Pacific shore, but the east and west 
ranges were produced by the inland sea. 

In order to understand the elevations of Asia we 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 47 

must regard them as the results of two distinct oper- 
ations. The separate mountains were raised at first, 
and their position and courses determined, by the 
depressions of local basins, created while the whole 
area was an archipelago. After the plan of the sur- 
face was thus laid out by local causes, the depression 
of the great oceans raised the whole area, including 
valleys, basins and mountains, and thus created the 
great Asiatic plateau. 

The Caspian valley was too far from the oceans to 
be raised in this manner, and the present Mediterra- 
nean was still farther off, and was therefore capable 
of retaining a small remnant of the ancient North 
Indian ocean. 

The Scandinavian mountains were not raised by 
the operations of elliptical currents. Their trend 
and position indicates that they were elevated 
in consequence of the depression of the channel of 
the Iceland sea. After the Scandinavian range was 
raised, the sea retreated eastward to the Oural region, 
and created a shore that gave birth to a new range 
with the same trend. 

The northern and western parts of Germany and 
France were once the boundaries of the North In- 
dian. As the waters retreated and the lands 
advanced southward and eastward, the mountains 
arose ; first the Jura, then some parts of the Alps, 
then other parts. Since that time the whole area, 
including valleys and mountains, have continued to 
rise. The present trends and curves of the moun- 



48 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 






tains, as well as the geological formations, indicate 
the positions of the ancient basins and shores, as 
well as the direction in which the water retreated. 

Scepticus. — Do I understand you to assert that all 
the mountains in the interiors of continents — those 
far from the present shores — were raised in conse- 
quence of the depressions of inland seas that ex- 
isted at the time on their concave sides ? 

Amicus. — That is our position. The Rocky and 
Nevada mountains afford examples. There was 
formerly a long inland sea that extended from the 
Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic sea. The depression 
of the bed of this sea raised the Rocky mountains on 
its eastern and the Nevada on its western side. The 
Rocky's are concave toward the great basin — toward 
the west — and the Nevada are also concave toward 
the same basin — toward the east. 

It should be again remarked that though the de- 
pressions of the inland basins originally produced 
the mountains, it was the lava from beneath the 
great oceans that subsequently raised them to their 
present height. 

Scepticus. — How do you explain the parallelism of 
the Appalachians, especially in those places where 
the ridges appear to be mere corrugations of the 
strata ? And how do you explain the fact that in 
some places the strata subsided several miles, with- 
out producing any but moderate heights by the 
reaction? 

Amicus. — The Appalachians present some facts that 



PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 49 

are not easily explained on any simple hypothesis. 
It should however be observed that the greater 
subsidences, that are unaccompanied by correspond- 
ing elevations, are those that occurred when the 
continents just began to emerge, and when the 
waves eroded the land and spread its fragments upon 
the areas in the vicinity, thus producing local de- 
pressions amidst a general continental elevation. 

The hypothesis that "the subsiding materials 
were brought from some foreign shore," we regard 
as utterly untenable. Our idea is that the Appala- 
chian region was at first in nearly the same predica- 
ment that the Aleutians, and many other islands are 
now. The islands, and the basins between them and 
the continent, are slowly rising, but the winds and the 
waves are eroding the islands, furnishing sediment, 
and producing local depressions near them. When 
a shore is once permanently established, a depression 
near it will have the effect, as in the Andes, of rais- 
ing high and permanent mountains. 

Scepticus. — How do you account for the conti- 
nental islands, and for the fact that they are so much 
more numerous on the Asiatic than on the American 
side of the Pacific ? 

Amicus. — A continental island is, in every case, a 
part of the continent. As a general rule the main 
land existed before the island began to rise. The 
sediment from the shore being deposited on a sub- 
marine part of the continent, over which the water 
was relatively shallow, created a basin, the depres- 

4 



50 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

sion of which, by reaction, produced the island. 
This theorjr is confirmed, if not positively established, 
by the fact, first pointed out by the lecturer, that, 
without exception, the continental islands and their 
mountains are curved, and have their concave sides 
toward the main land, and toward the basins the 
depression of which raised them. With this expla- 
nation in our minds let us look on a map and observe 
the remarkable curves of the Antilles, the Aleutians, 
the Kurilles ; then turn to the mountains in the inte- 
riors of the continents, and mark how plainly they 
proclaim their origin by the curves that, in every 
instance, are concave toward the adjoining basin. 
See the curves of the Carpathians, the Jura, the Alps, 
the Himalaya. Observe the mountains on both sides 
of Asia Minor concave toward the interior. The 
reason why there are so few continental islands 
on the American side of the Pacific, is because the 
water is deeper there, and the depressions, if any, are 
oceanic and not continental. 

Scepticus. — There are some facts that demonstrate 
that great lateral as well as vertical pressure was 
exerted upon some of the mountains as they rose. 

Amicus. — The lava from beneath a sinking basin 
would necessarily move in the direction required to 
produce such a pressure. The folds, cleavage and 
steep sides of the Appalachians, for example, would 
inevitably result from a westward movement of the 
lava from beneath the floor of the Atlantic. This 
explanation was first suggested by those eminent 






PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 51 

geological surveyors, Henry and Wm, B. Rodgers. 
A stream of lava, from beneath a deep ocean, raising 
the land on its sides, must move somewhat hori- 
zontally as well as vertically. 

Sceptieus. — How has this theory been received by 
those most capable of judging concerning its merits? 

Amicus. — Those who had already committed them- 
selves by their publications and lectures have looked 
coldly upon it. This, however, was to be expected. 
The discoveries of neither Copernicus, Kepler, Gal- 
ileo or Newton were appreciated until half a century 
after they were made. Harvey states, in his diary, 
that no physician forty years old was convinced that 
the blood circulates. Galileo was greatly amused 
when a learned professor refused to look through 
the newly invented telescope, and declared that he 
would not believe in Jupiter's moons even if he 
should see them. The only argument that I have 
heard used against Geonomy, is that it is new, and 
has not publicly received the sanction of the old 
professors. 

It is a curious fact that the elliptical theory of the 
currents was unanimously approved and applauded, 
when explained to the members of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, in Chi- 
cago, in 18G8; but when afterwards applied to the 
formation of continents and mountains, it met with 
strong opposition, especially from those who had pet 
theories of their own. 

Before the publication of Geonomy, Sir John 



52 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 



sted 



Herschel, in a letter to Sir Charles Lyell, suggested 
that possibly the sediment which accumulated on 
the sea bottom may, in some cases, intercept the heat 
from the interior of the globe, and its lower parts 
thus become melted, so that the weight of the super- 
incumbent mass would crowd it aside and upward, 
and thus produce mountains and volcanoes. He did 
not attempt to show that any particular mountain 
or area had been raised in that manner, but he gave 
expression to the abstract idea that such a proceed- 
ing was not improbable. Mr. Babbage, the cele- 
brated mathematician, proposed the hypothesis that 
the sediment became heated and swelled so as to 
produce mountains. In 1879, Prof. Le Conte, of 
San Francisco, in his " Elements of Geology," 
adopts the theory first taught by the author of Ge- 
onomy, that mountains have all resulted from sedi- 
ment conveyed from shores and deposited on the sea 
bottoms. But he adds a novel hypothesis of his 
own. He imagines that the heat generated or inter- 
cepted hj the sediment, softens the earth's crust to 
a great depth, and the secular cooling and contrac- 
tion of the crust squeezes up the softened mass, and 
thus produces a mountain. He also attributes the 
oceanic depressions and continental elevations to the 
secular cooling and shrinking of the globe, but he 
makes no attempt to account for the continental 
forms; indeed, on the old shrinking hypothesis, the 
attempt would necessarily be a failure. According 
to the geonomic theory the same process that created 






PEOBLEMS OF CREATION. 53 

continents was repeated, on a smaller scale and at 
subsequent periods, to create the mountains. In 
these respects the continents are analogous to the 
planets, and the mountains to the satellites. 

It may be added as a curious coincidence, that the 
discovery of the laws that control the elliptical mo- 
tions of the planets laid the foundation of the Science 
of Astronomy, and the discovery of the laws of the 
elliptical motions of the ocean currents furnishes a 
basis for a Science of Geonomy. 

The members of " The American Association for 
the Advancement of Science " will not soon forget 
the excitement produced at their annual meeting in 
Salem, Massachusetts, in 1869, when the author of 
Geonomy read a paper on " The Laws of Mountain 
Formation." The chairman of the section arose, and 
protested against allowing a paper to be read which, 
as he truly declared, "was contrary to the experi- 
ences of geologists for the last thirty years." 

The proposition objected to was that " mountains 
have resulted from the depressions made by the 
weight of the sediment deposited on the sea bottoms 
in lines parallel with the shores ! " The members pres- 
ent refused to sustain the motion of the chairman, and 
Col. J.W. Foster, at that time the president of the as- 
sociation, afterwards apologized to the author of the 
paper for the unparliamentary interruption. " Time 
brings its revenges." It is interesting now to see a 
book by Prof. Le Conte, an ex-president of the Amer- 
ican Association, in which this same scientific heresy 



54 PROBLEMS OF CREATION. 

is advocated with great ingenuity and ability; the 
only difference being in regard to the manner in 
which the sediment operates to produce the results. 

Physical geography, as now taught in our schools, 
is not entitled to the name of a science ; it is not 
even a system, but a confused collection of valuable 
facts. Geonomy performs the same office for them 
that the law of gravitation does for the facts of 
astronomy. It binds them together into a beautiful 
scientific system, demonstrates their mutual relations 
and bestows upon them a peculiar value and import- 
ance. 



DIAGRAMS. 55 

DIAGRAMS. 




Fig. i. 

This diagram is intended to represent the theoretical and math- 
ematical principles of an ellipse in the northern hemisphere. It is 
made irregular in order to emphasize the six points where the 
current changes its direction. The letters W, N, E, S, indicate the 
points of the compass. 

1 is the western extremity (Gulf of Mexico), where the current 
begins to flow N.E. 

2 is the point, near the 45th parallel (Banks of Newfoundland), 
where the current begins to flow nearly due east. 

3 is the point where the current, being cold, begins to turn S.E. 

4 is the point, near the 30th parallel, where, the easting being 
exhausted, the current begins to flow S.W. 

5 is the point where the current begins to flow nearly due west. 

6 is the point where the current, being warm, begins to flow N.W. 
to the starting point, I. 

The reason why the longer diameter of the ellipse is east and 
west, and the shorter north and south, is that the force derived from 
the earth's rotation is greater than the forces produced by difference 
of climate. If the forces had been equal the currents would have 
flown in perfect circles. The reason why the lines from I to 6 and 
from 3 to 4 are shorter than those from 1 to 2 and from 4 to 5 is 
that, though the current begins to flow eastward at the 20th 
parallel, it expends so much easting on the way that it only reaches 
the 30th parallel on the opposite side of the ocean before its easting 
is exhausted. This irregularity of the ellipses furnishes to a sceptic 
convincing proof of the theory of Geonomy, since it explains the 
hollow (short curve) on the N.W. side of the continent of North 
America, and also that on the S.W. side of the continent of South 
America ; it gives a reason for the long N.E. line on the eastern side 
of North America, and also on the eastern side of Asia ; it also 
enables us to understand the pointed form of South America and of 
Africa, on their eastern extremities. 



56 



DIAGRAMS. 




Fig. 2. 



This diagram represents the ideal map of the world, showing in 
a very general manner the forms and positions of the oceans and 
continents as they would have appeared if the ellipses had at first 
been placed symmetrically — the northern ellipses exactly north of 
the southern ellipses — and if, also, the sediment had been so equally 
distributed as to make the depressions uniform in all the ellipses, 
and, consequently, the continents north and south equally elevated. 



DIAGRAMS. 



57 





J^'^-y,^ 


\ 5 ? U 





Fig. 4. 



This map is intended to show the causes of the remarkable 
analogies of the three pairs of continents. I, 1, 1 represent the 
relative positions and analogies of North America, Europe and 
Asia. 2, 2, 2 represent the three isthmuses that connect the three 
northern and the three tropical continents. 3, 3, 3 represent the 
western extremities of the three oceans, and show the analogy of 
the West Indies, the East Indies, and the western part of northern 
Africa. 4, 4, 4 represents the North Atlantic, North Indian and 
North Pacific ellipses. 5, 5, 5 represent the three tropical conti- 
nents, South America, South Africa and Australia, and show that 
when the North Indian Ocean existed, Africa was much more like 
South America and Australia than it is now. 

It should be stated that this essay and the diagrams are only 
intended to discuss and illustrate the theory and general principles 
of Geonomy, and, therefore, make no pretensions to precision in 
unessential details. 



58 



DIAGRAMS. 




Fig. 3. 



Fig. 3 is like Fig, 2, except that the northern ellipses and con- 
tinents are all placed an equal distance west of the southern, r, 
North America, 2, indicates the short curve or hollow on the north- 
west coast of North America. It will be seen that there is a 
similar curve on the south-west coast of South America. 3 indicates 
the position of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico ; 4, the 
North Atlantic ; 5, South America ; 6, the South Atlantic. 

This diagram is intended to demonstrate that Geonomy is 
founded upon strictly mathematical principles. The real distance 
of the northern continents west of the southern is about 50 degrees 
of longitude. 



Peoblem VI. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 



RELATING TO THE NEW EDITION O^" 

Pheeno-Geologt, 



PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 



Circumstances are the Fingers of God, by the agency of which He Created 
and Controls all things. 



In the year 1839 the author of this volume published 
in Buffalo, New York., a new system of Phrenology, 
the principal novelty of which consisted in the announce- 
ment that the organs and functions of the body and the 
brain consist of three classes, namely, the Ipseals, or 
those related to self ; the Socials, or those related society, 
and the Intellectuals, or those related to the acquisition 
of knowledge. 

He next proceeded to demonstrate that the phrene 
organs of each of those classes, are super-added and 
arranged in a remarkable order, which may properly 
be termed the order of evolution. The Phrenological 

(i) 






11 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

societies of Buffalo, Albany, Hartford and London ap- 
pointed committees to investigate the subject, all of 
whom reported in favor of the new classification. 

In 1850 the author published Phreno-Geology, in which 
he advocated the hypothesis that the organs of the brain 
were created successively in different geological periods, 
as circumstances rendered them necessary. 

Mr. Charles Darwin's now famous work on "the ori- 
gin of species" had not then been published. The 
author stood alone, the sole advocate of the doctrine of 
evolution in this country. Phreno-Geology, on its ap- 
pearance, was treated with great severity by all parties. 
The scientists condemned it because it was a departure 
from the old beaten track, and because it assumed the 
truth of phrenology. The infidel paper — the Boston 
Investigator — attacked it because it recognized the exist- 
ence of God the Creator, who hears and answers prayer. 
The Puritan papers on the other hand denounced it as 
rank infidelity. The histriographer of the Episcopal 
Church, Dr. Jarvis, in a letter to the author's pastor, 
the Rev. Orange Clark, of Quincy, Mass., declared that 
" a man who could seriously advocate the idea that the 
brain received additions in successive geological periods, 
was only fit for a madhouse." After a small edition was 
sold, the author, at the solicitation of his religious 
friends, boxed up the stereotype plates, and has allowed 
them to remain unused for the past thirty years. In the 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Ill 

meantime the public mind has undergone very great 
changes. According to Dr. Gill, of Washington, three- 
fourths of the naturalists in this country are now evolu- 
tionists. Even theologians are beginning to accept the 
doctrines of thesistic evolution, though they protest, and 
with good reason, against the implied atheism which 
some writers have unnecessarily associated with the sub- 
ject. 

In the author's work, lately published, (Mysteries of 
the Head and Heart,) a reference made to Phreno-Geol- 
ogy has caused considerable inquiry for the book, and 
those that could be found have sold for a high price. 
The author has therefore thought it advisable to issue a 
new edition ; as it contains a discussion of the last and 
most important problem of creation, it may be regarded 
as an appropriate addition and sequel to the preceding 
parts of this volume. 






PREFACE 



This work is the natural sequel to " The New Sys- 
tem of Phrenology," published in 1839, in which I intro- 
duced a new classification and arrangement of the 
organs of the brain, and insisted that it is a natural 
arrangement, and therefore preferable to that proposed 
by Spurzheim, advocated by Combe, and generally 
adopted. 

The phrenological societies in this country generally 
adopted my classification when it was brought before 
them, although a few prominent and influential authors 
and lecturers opposed it. At the present time those who 
do not adopt it are silent concerning it, and thus tacitly 
assent to its claims. For the information of some read- 
ers it may be proper to state, that Spurzheim classed the 
four lowest socials and the eight lowest ipseals together, 
and denominated them "Animal Propensities;" the 
eight highest socials and three highest ipseals he also 
classed together, and named them "Moral Sentiments." 
He taught that the sentiments differ from the propensities 
in being endowed with peculiar emotions, which the 
propensities do not possess. 
1# 



VI PREFACE. 

I utterly repudiated this doctrine of Spurzheim, and, 
taking the elements of the scienee as their great discov- 
erer, Dr. Gall, left them, I endeavored to find the natu- 
ral relations which exist among them. How far I have 
succeeded, I leave it for others to determine from the fol- 
lowing brief statement : 

I first pointed out the division of the organs into three 
classes, — ipseal, social and directive. Secondly, I traced 
and established a connection between the organs of each 
class from the base to the upper lateral part of the 
head, such as to constitute three series of superadditions. 
The engraved bust of the head, in this work, is the same 
engraving that was used in my work published in 1839, 
and represents the three series by three different kinds of 
numerals. In 1844, I discovered and published an 
additional improvement in Phrenological Science, which 
is represented by the engraving of the converging fibres 
of the brain, on page 66. I taught that thought and 
feeling is not a function of the brain, but is confined to 
the oblongata ; and that the real office of the brain is to 
receive impressions, modify them, and transmit them 
through the central phrene or. consciousness to the mus- 
cles, and thus produce volition. This improvement 
seems to be generally admitted, without opposition, 
wherever it has been explained; it is recommended by its 
extreme simplicity and apparent truthfulness, and by its 



PREFACE. VII 

affording a ready explanation of many hitherto unac- 
countable phenomena in psychology and mesmerism. 

I now come before the public once more, with the 
results of several years' investigation, in a new and 
interesting field. My principal object in publishing this 
volume is to show the relation between phrenology and 
geology — between the structure of the brain and the 
geological series of changes. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. P ^. 

A.RTICLE I. . 13 

Article II 17 

Article III 19 

Article IV. Geology. Lyell's Arrangement, . . .23 
Hitchcock's Table, showing the Order and the 

Epochs in which Animals were created, . 24 

Genesis not to be construed literally, . . 30 

Article V. Relation of Faith to Science, ... 34 

Indian's Death Song, 38 



Section I. 
Section II. 
Section III. 
Section IY. 
Section V. 
Section VI. 
Section VII. 
Section VIII. 



Section IX. 
Section X. 



Section XI. 






PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

Origin of the Earth, .... 

Origin of Organization, .... 

Origin of Vegetation, . 

Origin of Animals, .... 

Origin of Mind, ..... 

Origin of Muscular Motion, 

Origin of New Organs, 

Origin of Man, 

Hieroglyphics of Egypt prove that all men did 
not descend from Noah, .... 

Rev. John Pye Smith's Opinion, 

Phrene or Central Consciousness, with Engrav- 
ing to illustrate, ..... 

Order and Succession of the Organs of the Brain, 

Table showing the relative order of the crea- 
tion of the Phreno-Organs, and of the time of 
the Geological Periods, .... 

New Classification, Arrangement, and Defini- 
tions of the Phreno-Organs, 

Origin of the Ipseals, 

Origin of Pneumativeness, Alimentiveness, and 
Sanativeness, . . . . . 



43 

45 
46 
47 
51 
53 
56 
58 

59 
61 

66 
67 



69 

70 

75 

77 



CONTENTS. 



Section XII. 



Section XIII. 



Section XIV. 



Section XV. 
Section XVI. 
Section XVII. 
Section XVIII. 
Section XIX. 



Section XX. 



Section XXI. 

Section XXII. 
Section XXIII. 
Section XXIV. 



Origin of Destructiveness and Combativeness, 80 
Origin of Secretiveness and Cautiousness, 82 

Origin of Constructiveness and Acquisitiveness, 85 
Origin of Wit, or Experimentiveness, . 90 
Origin of Perfectiveness and of the Arts, . 94 
Origin of Hope and Migration, . . . 99 
Ipseal Summary, ... . 100 

Engraving to show the Order in which the 

Ipseal Organs were created, . . . 102 
Origin of the Social Organs, . . . 103 
Amativeness and Parentiveness, . . . 102 
Origin of Inhabitiveness and Adhesiveness, 106 
Origin of Imperativeness and Approbativeness, 109 
Origin of Firmness and Justice, . . Ill 

Origin of Submissiveness, Imitativeness, and 
Credenciveness, . . . . .117 

Engraving to show the Order in which the 

Social Organs were created, . . 117 

Origin of the Directive, or Intellectual Organs, 118 
Engraving to show the Order and Direction 

in which the Directive Organs were created, 123 
Progress of Social Concentration, . . . 124 
The Moral of Phreno-Geology, the Unity of 
Humanity, ...... 129 

Progressive Improvement, .... 131 

Origin of the various Forms of Animals, . 134 
Origin of Land Animals, .... 139 

Origin of White Men and Negroes, . . 143 
Creative Power. Stimulus creates Organs, . 148 

Memory, 157 

How Stimulus creates Organs, . . .153 
How Organs are increased in Size, . . 162 
How increased in Intensity, . . . 162 

Origin of the Senses, .... 164 
What limits the Size of Organs, . . . 167 
Phreno-Philosophy of Idolatry, . . 170 

Sport different from Idolatry, . . . 174 

Knowledge is Intellectual Stimulus, and Su- 
perstition is Idolatrous Philosophy, . 179 
Objections to the " Vestiges of Creation," . 184 
Special Providence — Fatalism, . . 187 

Instinct is Hereditary Memory, . . . 188 
Hereditary Descent, .... 193 

Relation of the Temperaments to Geology, . 196 



CONTENTS, XI 

Page. 

Successive links connect the functions, if not 
the forms, of animals, from the lowest to 

the highest, 196 

Section XXV. Relation of Physiognomy to Geology, . . 198 
Section XXVI. Causes of the Superiority of Man, — the 
Hand, — the Posture, — the Power of 
Speech, — Origin of Speech, — its Advan- 

. 206 




PH RENO-BUST. 
The organs on the side of the head, included in the double lines, 
are the Ipseals, or those related to Self. Those on the back and 
top are the Socials, or those related to Society. Those in the front 
are the Intellectuals, or those that acquire knowledge. A ?, B ?, C ? 
and E ? are candidate organs. The other letters are the abbrevia- 
tions of the names of organs. 



INTRODUCTION 

TO 

PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



ARTICLE I. 

If we trace the phreno-organs of man from their three 
different roots at the base of the brain, [see engraving,] and studi- 
ously notice the character of the super-additions, we shall find 
that as the organs rise in each of the three classes, they assume 
higher moral and intellectual functions, — they tend to produce 
more complicated actions, and require more extensive and 
various knowledge. 

If, now, we turn to the adamantine volumes of Geology, to 
learn the structure and habits of the intelligent beings that 
inhabited the earth before man was created in his present form, 
we are struck with admiration by the harmony which is dis- 
played, and the beautiful unity of design which is so unex- 
pectedly discovered, between the structure of the earth, the 
structure of ancient animals, and the super-additions of the 
phreno-organs of the human brain. If we follow the geologist, 
from his examination of the lowest vertebrated fossil animals to 
the highest in point of intelligence and moral conduct, we find 
that phreno-powers were added to their minds in a manner and 
order exactly agreeing with that in which the organs are super- 
added and arranged in the human brain. [See engraving.] 
2 



14 INTRODUCTION. 



We find the brains of vertebrated animals lower the further we 
descend geologically into the earth. The monkey is found 
a little lower in the geological series than man, and, accordingly, 
he has a brain differing from that of man only at the points 
where the very highest organs of man are developed. It 
resembles the human brain in its general appearance and 
structure, but it is deficient in certain parts which elevate the 
character of man, and give lateral expansion to the upper 
frontal region of the head Now, from the orang, let us de- 
scend to the dog and fox, and we find him still more deficient 
in the same important parts. Then let us go to the wolf, tiger, 
hyena, crocodile, and so down, until, when we finally come to the 
least intelligent fishes, the brain is merely a continuation of the 
spinal cord, apparently a mere simple oblongata, surrounded 
by a watery fluid, with several little knots of pulpy, nervous 
substances growing out of it. These knots are presumed to be 
phreno-organs ; but the whole brain is such a simple affair that 
no one would suspect it to be a brain, were it not found in the 
skull, where it is supposed a brain should be. If we notice 
carefully the simplest of the fishes, and study their modes and 
habits, we find them showing distinctly those conscious powers 
only whose organs in man are found at the base of the brain. 
Their principal conscious powers are those which prompt 
them to breathe, to eat, to avoid injury, to propagate, and to 
perceive the objects immediately around them. There is 
essentially no cunning, nor foresight, nor parental affection, nor 
social regard, and consequently, no government nor society 
such as exists among higher animals. If there is any degree 
of these, it is so slight, compared with that of higher animals, 
as to be merely rudimentary. These facts, and such as these, 
have produced, in some inquiring minds, an opinion that man 
is but the result of gradual progression from the lowest verte- 
brata, — that, in fact, man was originally a fish, then a reptile, 






INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

then quadmmanous, (like an ape,) then a bimanous biped, — 
a semi-human savage, less intelligent than the present orang, 
— then more intelligent, and so on to the present time. This 
doctrine was boldly advanced and defended by Lamark, a dis- 
tinguished French naturalist, who wrote about fifty years ago. 
He contended that man, and every other animal, is the result 
of circumstances acting upon organization, and causing it to 
develope its latent powers, — that the web foot of the duck is 
caused by the very act of paddling in the water, — the teeth of 
the tiger by the act of tearing ; and so of other peculiar forms. 
A modification of the theory of Lamark has lately been brought 
forward in a work entitled " The Vestiges of Creation." The 
truth of this doctrine is, however, denied by many distinguished 
.geologists and naturalists, among whom is Mr. Lyell, who 
contends for the assumption that each class of animals, includ- 
ing man, was, independently of the others, created by the 
Almighty, and specially and miraculously adapted to the cir- 
cumstances which were to surround it. This, in substance, is 
his conclusion, and it is also the opinion (if we may judge from 
their writings) of Cuvier and most of the great European and 
American naturalists. But history teaches us to receive the 
published opinions of popular and salaried philosophers, upon 
such subjects, with much allowance for the delicate circum- 
stances in which they find themselves placed. It is dangerous 
to advocate important truths in advance of the age. Diana of 
the Ephesians is still too great to be approached without pru- 
dence and respect. It is not forgotten that Galileo, and 
BufFon, and Lawrence, were obliged to retract their expressed 
opinions; and many, doubtless, approve of the timid wisdom 
of Aristotle, who, after the death of Socrates, left his country to 
avoid persecution, saying that he was " unwilling to give his 
countrymen an opportunity to commit another offence against 
philosophy." In science, we must be governed by the authority 






16 INTRODUCTION. 

of facts, and not of distinguished names. The general tendency 
of modern science is to prove that there was a time when no 
organized being existed on earth; that vegetables were the 
first organized existences ; then certain animals nearly allied in 
character and form to vegetables ; that, in succeeding ages,, 
higher animals were produced, and last and highest came man 
upon the stage. Geology, Embryology, and Phrenology, com- 
bine to establish this result and to illustrate it. 

Geology shows us the lowest animals in the lower fossiliferous 
strata, and the highest animals in the highest stratum. Embry- 
ology exhibits the first organs of the brain which are developed 
in man, (several months before birth,) and shows that they are 
the same as those possessed by the lowest vertebrated animals 
found in the rocky strata by the geologist. As the embryo- 
man progresses in development, his brain receives super- 
additions and offshoots, which make him resemble successively 
the fish, the reptile, the lower mammal, then the higher ; and, 
finally, the endowments of humanity crown the performance, 
and man is born. In short, the manner in which the brain of 
man is developed before birth, the succession of organs and 
addition of parts, is the same as when the brain was (ac- 
cording to Geology) developed in the succeeding tribes of 
animals before man existed on earth. The phreno-organs at 
the base first being a mere continuation of the spinal cord, then 
afterwards receiving additions in a lateral and upward direc- 
tion ; at length, at the highest lateral portions of the front head, 
are formed the organs of causality, perfectiveness, and cre- 
denciveness, which man possesses above all other animals, and 
which principally contribute to his superiority. 



ARTICLE II. 

CIRCUMSTANCES ARE THE FINGERS OF GOD. 

God created all organized beings — vegetables, animals, and 
man — by the agency of the circumstances by which they were 
successively surrounded. Geology abounds with evidences of 
this great truth; changes of the earth were constantly fol- 
lowed by changes of animal forms. There surely must have 
been a time when no animal with lungs could have existed on 
earth, for there was no pure air to breathe, such as we now 
enjoy. Carbonic acid and various vapors and gaseous mat- 
ters were suffused through the atmosphere, rendering it abso- 
lutely impossible for any of the higher animals to exist. At 
this time fishes abounded in the sea, and vegetables flourished 
on the land; for the very carbonic acid which, when in the air 
in great quantities, is the death of animals, is the very choicest 
food of plants. As the earth grew colder, the vapors and 
gases became condensed to water, to vegetables, and to car- 
bonic rocks. The immense amount of plants which grew upon 
the virgin earth consumed a vast amount of carbonic acid, and 
thus relieved the atmosphere of its presence. The formation 
of bituminous and of anthracite coal beds was one result. 
Immense quantities, also, of the atmospheric carbon was con- 
sumed in forming the carbonates of lime, such as common lime- 
stone and marble. After this the air was purer and cooler, and 
reptiles began to flourish, — animals that sprung from fishes, 
which gradually, and after ages of approximation, became at 
length capable of living on land, — at first for a few moments, 
then longer, and at length continually. It is easy to imagine 
2*= 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

that myriads of fishes died when the circumstances came upon 
them which forced them to change their mode of life in that 
region in which they then lived ; but when one pair did thus 
change and survive, it would become the Adam and Eve of a race 
of land animals. It is also reasonable to suppose that the change 
took place from necessity, in some situation where the land was 
alternately immersed in water, and then left partially uncovered 
by it, as we now frequently see land when the tide ebbs and 
flows. It may be that, instead of the water leaving the animals, 
the animals left the water, and went, gradually advancing, upon 
the land to feed upon its luxuriant foliage. The first inhabit- 
ants of the land were, probably, though not necessarily, vege- 
table eaters, which fed upon marine plants when they inhabited 
the water, and upon land plants when they lived upon the 
earth. It is a startling announcement that our ancestors once 
inhabited the mighty deep, and, sustained on broad extended 
fins, roved through the vast ocean. But, if our theory is 
admitted, such is the inevitable tendency of the arguments, and 
nothing but the interposition of a miracle can prevent this con- 
clusion. One pair, at least, must have escaped from the water, 
and become changed to reptiles by the gradual but irresistible 
force of predestined circumstances ; then, by the continuation 
of similar causes, they became exclusively land animals. What 
now took place ? Vegetables became smaller and less abundant, 
while animals were more numerous, and continued to increase 
by reproduction ; food grew scarce, until at length there was no 
alternative but to die or to feed upon each other. This intro- 
duced carnivorous land animals, even if none came from the 
water. Doubtless a great number of animals died from inability 
to undergo the change from vegetable to animal food, yet 
enough lived to reproduce land animals that could live on flesh 
exclusively. 



ARTICLE III. 

By the will of God the increasing coldness of climate pro- 
duced the principal circumstances that produced animals and 
men. 

The earth was once too hot to allow of the existence of 
animals ; they were not produced until it had cooled down to a 
certain point ; plants, infusoria, radiates, molusks, trilobites and 
fishes were then created. I do not mean to assert that these 
animals were created in the order named, they may have orig- 
inated and progressed simultaneously. If the earth had con- 
tinued at the same temperature which it then possessed until 
the present time, it is certain that man never would have 
existed in his present form. We should now have all been 
fishes or nothing, — aut pisces out nullus. We could not even 
have advanced to the dignity of reptiles, enjoying the privilege 
of crawling occasionally out of the water into the mud on 
swampy islands of the sultry ocean. Still colder must it have 
been when our great reptile parents left the ocean altogether, 
stood on the solid earth, fed upon its herbage, and breathed 
with lungs instead of gills. It must have been colder, or such 
an atmosphere could not have existed. I doubt not that the 
atmosphere was the agent, under Providence, that created the 
lungs, — the solid earth created the feet, — the food created the 
teeth and digestive organs, — the temperature of the air created 
the skin, hair and feathers of land animals, and the light 
created and modified the eyes. It may have been millions of 
years in doing this, but Geology does not restrict us in regard 
to time. 

Only admit, as every one must, that some slight change in 
organization can be produced in a thousand years' exposure to 






20 



INTRODUCTION. 



some powerful influence, and the whole argument is at once 
surrendered, for Geology instantly steps in with its vast period 
of time to accomplish any amount of transformation which 
organization is capable of undergoing without destruction. It 
should also be considered that organization is capable of gradu- 
ally assuming any form whatever that can be conceived, pro- 
vided circumstances require it, and sufficient wholesome food, 
air and protection, can be obtained by the change, and not 
otherwise. The point that I am now insisting upon is, that, by 
the will of God, cold produced the circumstances which created 
man. Admitting that 

" The vile race from which we sprung ' 

once inhabited the water, it is plain that when primeval man, 
in reptile form, first left his native ocean, bade it farewell, and 
established himself upon the land, feeding exclusively upon its 
productions, if the temperature of the earth had remained 
stationary from then until the present time, man, in his present 
form, would not have existed; his high powers, which now 
enable him to struggle against the modern climates, would all 
have been unnecessary. There was then no need of clothing, 
nor shelter, nor society, except of the opposite sex. The 
multiplication of animals, rendering food scarce, would change 
herbivorous animals into carnivorous, even if the temperature 
remained the same. This would cause some change in the 
organization, but it would merely be such as would be needed 
to adapt him to such food ; it would go no further. No other 
improvement was made, — no advance to his present state, — 
until it became cold enough to produce some degree of the 
inclemency of winter ; then more intelligence and skill became 
necessary to prevent destruction. Immense numbers of ani- 
mals perished with cold and hunger. The animals that sur- 
vived the changes grew smaller in their bodies and larger in 
their brains, (so Geology teaches ;) for intelligence and skill 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

were more needed than strength. It is now evident that cold 
produced the circumstances which rendered intelligence neces- 
sary to prevent destruction, and intelligence is the great pecu- 
liarity of man. 



ARTICLE IV. 

GEOLOGY. 



As I expect that this book will go into the hands of many 
who are unacquainted even with the elements of geology, I 
deem it proper to give a brief general outline of the features of 
the science, for the benefit of such readers. 

Geology is the science which teaches the structure of the 
earth below the surface, and explains the causes of the various 
appearances which that structure presents. Notwithstanding 
the immense number of facts, details and technical terms which 
appear to encumber geology and embarrass the learner, a suf- 
ficient understanding of the general principles of the science 
may be obtained from a few pages. 

"If," says Dr. Hitchcock, "we suppose ourselves placed m a 
meadow, which has resulted from the successive deposits of 
annual floods, and begin a perpendicular excavation into the 
earth, we shall pass through the different classes of rocks in the 
following order : — 

"For a few feet only, — rarely as many as 100, — we shall 
pass through layers of loam, sand, and fine gravel, arranged in 
nearly horizontal beds. This deposit, from an existing river, is 
denominated alluvium. All deposits from causes now in action, 
which have taken place since the present order of things com- 
menced on the globe, are usually regarded as alluvial. 






22 INTRODUCTION. 

" The second formation which we shall penetrate, is composed 
of coarse sand and gravel, with fine sand, and even sometimes 
clay, containing, however, large rounded masses of rock called 
bowlders; the whole mixed together, yet often distinctly, and 
horizontally stratified. This formation, evidently the result of 
glacio-aqueous agency, is called drift. It is distinguished from 
alluvium, first, by its inferior position ; secondly, by the marks 
of a more powerful agency ; and, thirdly, by extending over 
regions where no existing streams or other causes now in action 
could have produced it. 

" The third series of strata which we penetrate in descending 
into the earth, is composed of layers of clay, sand, gravel, and 
marl, with occasional quartzose and calcareous beds more or less 
consolidated; all of which were deposited in waters compara- 
tively quiet, and in separate basins. They also contain many 
peculiar organic remains, and sometimes dip at a small angle, 
though usually they are horizontal. These strata are called 
tertiary. 

" The formations which we penetrate after passing through 
the tertiary, are composed for the most part of solid rocks. 
They are, however, mostly made up of sand, clay, and pebbles, 
bound together by some sort of cement. With these are inter- 
stratified many varieties of limestone ; and throughout the whole 
series is found a great variety of the remains of animals and 
plants, very different from those in the tertiary strata. These 
groups of rock sometimes lie horizontal ; but are usually more 
or less elevated, so as to make them dip at various angles. They 
are called secondary rocks. 

" The stratified rocks below the secondary are distinguished 
by the absence of organic remains, by having a structure more 
or less crystalline, and by being more highly inclined. They 
are called primary rocks. This term has also been applied to* 
the unstratified crystalline rocks. 



INTRODUCTION. 



23 



" Immediately beneath the primary stratified rocks, we find 
the unstratified ones. As this is found to be the case wherever 
the stratified rocks have been penetrated, it is inferred that the 
internal parts of the globe, beneath a comparatively thin crust, 
are made up of unstratified rocks ; at least to a very great depth. 

" Among the primary rocks, there is no settled order of super- 
position. Perhaps gneiss most commonly lies immediately above 
granite ; but the other members of the series are frequently found 
also in the same position. Among the fossiliferous rocks there 
exists an invariable order of superposition." 

The following is Dr. Lyell's arrangement, names, and subdi- 
vision of the formations: — 



Newer Pliocene. 

Older Pliocene. 

Miocene. 

Eocene. 



Recent. 



Chalk. 



Green Sand. 



Wealden. 



Upper Oolite. 



Middle Oolite. 



Lower Oolite. 



Lias. 



Upper New 
Red Sandstone, 



Lower New 
Red Sandstone. 



Coal. 



Old Red 
Sandstone. 



2 8 






Upper 


hj 


Silurian. 


B 

o 
v> 


Lower 
Silurian. 




ft 


Cambrian and 


I 


Older 


CD 


Fossiliferous. 


o 


Clav Slate. 


Quartz Rock. 


2. 
p 


Hornblende 


Schist. 


B 


Chlorite Slate. 




Hypogene 


1 


Limestone. 


1 


Mica Schist. 




Gneiss. 





24 



INTRODUCTION. 



According to the authority of Dr. Hitchcock, " the following 
is the order in which some of the most important animals and 
plants have first appeared on the globe : in other words, the 
epoch of their creation. It may, indeed, be hereafter found, 
when the rocks have been more extensively examined, that 
some appeared earlier. 



Silurian & Cambrian, 
orGraywacke Period. 



Devonian Period. 



Carboniferous Period. 



Red Sandstone Period. 
Trias and Permian. 



Oolitic Period. 



' Echinodermata, Annelida, Zoophyta, Crusta- 
cea, Cirrhipeda. 

Marine Shells. 

Crustacea. (Trilobites.) 

Fishes — Placoidians and Ganoidians, (Sauroids 
and Sharks,) also those with heterocercal 
tails. 

Flowerless Plants. } Marine. 

Flowering Plants. \ Terrestrial. 

Fishes, (Cephalaspis, Chirolepis, &c. ; ) abun- 
dant and peculiar. 

Peculiar Fishes : Arachnidans, such as Scor- 
pions ; Insects, as Curculionidae : Fresh Wa- 
ter Shells : Infusoria : Dicotyledonous Plants, 
Coniferae, Cycadese: Monocotyledonous Plants, 
Palmae, Scitaminae. 

Batrachians, (tracks in Pennsylvania.) 

Tracks of Birds, Tortoises, and Chirotheria 
or gigantic Batrachians. (Lab?jrinthodon.) 

Reptiles: Monitor, Phytosaurus, Ichthyosau- 
rus, Plesiosaurus, Thecodontosaurus, Palse- 
osaurus. 

Crustacea : Palinurus. 

Fishes : Palseoniscus. 

Dicotyledonous Plants, Voltzia, &c. 

Mammalia : (Marsupials) Thylacotherium, and 
Phascolatherium, (Didelphys of Buckland.) 

Reptiles : Saurocephalus, Saurodon, Teleosau- 
rus, Streptospondylus, Megalosaurus, La- 
certa neptunia, iElodon, Rhacheosaurus, 
Pleurosaurus, Geosaurus, Macrospondylus, 
Pterodactylus, Crocodile, Gavial, Tortoise. 

Fishes : Pycnodontes and Lepidoides. (Dape- 
dium, &c.) with homocercal tails. 

Arachnidans: Spiders. 

Insects : Libellulse, Coleoptera. 



INTRODUCTION. 



25 



Oolitic Period. 



Wealden Period. 



Cretaceous Period. 



Tertiary Period. 



Crustacea ; Pagurus, Eryen, Seyllarus, Palae 

mon, Astacus. 
Plants: Cycadeae, (Pterophyllum, Zamia,) Co 

niferse, (Thuytes, Taxites,) Lilia, (Buck 

landia.) 

Birds : Gralla?, (Tilgate Forest.) 

Reptiles : Iguanodon, Leptorynchus, Trionyx, 
Emys, Chelonia. 

Fishes : Lepidotus, Pycnodus, &c. Fresh wa- 
ter and estuary shells. 

Insects. 

Reptiles : Mososaurus, &c. 

Fishes : Ctenoidians and Cycloidians. 

Crustacea : Arcania, Etysea, Coryster. 

Plants : Confervae, Naiades 

Mammalia: 1. Eocene Period, 50 species: — 
Palaeotherium, Anoplotherium, Lophiodon, 
Anthracotherium, Cheroptamus (allied to 
the hog), Adapis (resembling the hedge- 
hog) ; Carnivora : Bat, Canis (Wolf and 
Fox), Coatis, Racoon, Genette, Dormouse, 
Squirrel. Reptiles : Serpents. 

Birds : Buzzard, Owl, Quail, "Woodcock, Sea 
Lark, Curlew, Pelican, Albatros, Vulture. 

Reptiles : Fresh Water Tortoises. 

Fishes : seven extinct species of extinct genera. 

2. Miocene Period: Ape, Dinotherium, Tapir, 
Chalicotherium, Rhinoceros, Tetracaulodon, 
Hippotherium, Sus, Felis , Machairodus, Gu- 
lo, Agnotherium, Mastodon, Hippopotamus, 
Horse. 

3. Pliocene Period : Elephant, Ox, Deer, Dol- 
phin, Seal, Walrus, Lamantin, Megalonyx, 
Megatherium, Glyptodon, Hysena, Ursus, 
Weasel, Hare, Rabbit, Water Rat, Mouse, 
Dasyurus, Halmaturus, Kangaroo, and Kan- 
garoo Rat. 

Birds : Pigeon, Raven, Lark, Duck, &c. 
Fishes ; (in the formation generally) more 

than 100 species now extinct which belong 

to more than 40 extinct and as many living 

genera. 
Insects : 162 genera of Diptera, Hemiptera, 

Coleoptera, Aptera, Hymenoptera, Neurop- 

tera, and Orthoptera. 
Shells : In the Newer Pliocene Period, 90 to 

95 per cent, of living species ; 35 to 50 per 



26 INTRODUCTION. 



Tertiary Period. 



cent, in the Older Pliocene j 17 per cent- 
in the Miocene ; and 3.5 in the Eocene - r 
amounting in all, extinct and recent, to 
4000 species. 
Plants : Poplars, Willows, Elms, Chesmits 
Sycamores, and nearly 200 other species ; 
seven eighths of which are monocotyledo- 
nous or dicotyledonous. 

Man, and most of the other species ol exisi- 
Alluvial Period. \ ing animals and plants. 

Gigantic Birds, Dinonnis, &c. 

Geologists have arrived at the following conclusions, as the 
results of their labors and researches : 

The present condition of the earth is the consequence of a 
series of changes, in which heat has been the principal agent. 
The time once was, perhaps millions of years ago, when the 
whole earth was a mass of liquid fire and blazing vapor ; and it 
has been gradually cooling until the present time. At one pe- 
riod, no animal, nor vegetable, nor crystal, nor any solid thing 
whatever, existed on earth ; indeed, there was no earth, — all 
the world was fiery mist, like a blazing, half-transparent comet. 
Gradually the heat was radiated away into space, until the sur- 
face of the earth was formed by an incrustation of granite. 
Below this granite was boiling lava ; above it were vapor and 
gas. The earth continued to cool, and the granite crust to 
become thicker. What is now water then existed in a gaseous 
form in the atmosphere. Losing a portion of its heat, it became 
vapor, steam, clouds, then rain ; the rain formed rivers, the 
rivers formed oceans. The waters of the first oceans were hot 
and fresh. Tremendous torrents poured upon the heated earth, 
and rushed among the rocks, dissolving their particles and hold- 
ing them in solution. In a short time evaporation returned the 
water to the atmosphere, while the mineral sedimentary parti- 
cles, which had been dissolved and disintegrated, fell upon the 
crust, and formed another kind of rock, called gneiss. The rocks 
formed by sediment thus deposited from water are composed of 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

parallel layers, as if one layer was deposited at one time, and 
another was afterwards laid over it. These layers are called 
strata, and all rocks thus formed from water are called stratified 
rocks ; while those produced by heat are called plutonic, or un- 
stratified. The stratified rocks are many miles in thickness, 
and are subdivided and classed into systems or formations. In 
many places the volcanic powers beneath have broken up the 
strata, and turned them over in such a manner as to present to 
our astonished view several miles of the edges of the layers, so 
that we are just as well informed concerning their appearances 
as we should be if we had dug so many miles perpendicularly 
into the earth, for the express purpose of viewing it. These 
layers are composed of hardened mud, sand, gravel, crystals, 
metals, and organic remains, most of which once existed in an 
ancient ocean, and, by their appearances, and the manner and 
order in which they occur, tell their origin and history. The 
grand division of the stratified rocks is into primary, secondary, 
tertiary, diluvial, or drift, and alluvial. 

The primary are the lowest, and rest upon the unstratified 
rocks. No organic remains are found in these. If any ever 
did exist, the evidences of their existence have been obliterated 
by the heat to which they have been subjected from the vol- 
canic rocks beneath. The probability is, that vegetables and 
animals existed earlier than those whose remains we now find ;. 
for we know that the first animals must have fed upon vegeta- 
bles, and that vegetables must therefore have been created first ;; 
but we find animals quite as low in the rocks as we do vegeta- 
bles. I have no doubt that the time will come when geologists 
will be able to show, by the remains in the rocks which will yet 
be discovered, that vegetables existed first, and that animals- 
were created afterwards ; but at present, though we know that 
such must have been the fact, we cannot demonstrate it by the 
rocky remains themselves. Again, we know that vegetable- 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

•eating animals must have existed earlier then flesh-eating ani- 
mals ; but we cannot yet demonstrate the existence of strata 
which we know contains the remains of vegetable-eating animals 
that existed before flesh-eating animals were created. 

The rocks which contain the fossil remains of vegetables and 
animals are called fossiliferous rocks, while those below these 
are called the non-fossiliferous rocks. All the stratified rocks 
are fossiliferous, except the primary. The secondary rocks are 
subdivided and named differently by different authors, but in 
the main and essential points they generally agree. The very 
lowest rocks that contain animal remains are called protozoic 
rocks. These rocks have received so many different names, 
and been subjected to so many different subdivisions, within a 
short time, as to produce some confusion in the minds of those 
who have but a slight acquaintance with the subject. The first 
name which they received was graywacke; afterwards they 
were called the transition conglomerate rocks. Then again 
they were divided into Cumbrian, Cambrian, and Silurian; 
and the Silurian were subdivided into upper and lower Silu- 
rian. On the whole, I prefer the division, classification and 
names proposed by Mr. Lyell, as given on the preceding pages. 
He makes a greater number of subdivisions than other authors, 
but he generally gives good reasons for doing so. From the 
very nature of the subject, we may expect that new discoveries 
will for a long time lead to still more numerous and more minute 
subdivisions, and to new and more appropriate names for the 
sections which are most carefully examined. I would recom- 
mend Dr. Hitchcock's Elements of Geology as the best sum- 
mary of the science, for the use of students, in this country. 
They will there learn many details which I do not deem neces- 
sary for the purposes of this treatise. Dr. Hitchcock has 
constructed a very ingenious and instructive chart, and prefixed 
it to his book, in which he represents the order in which plants 



INTRODUCTION. 



29 



and animals were created. He says, " While this chart shows 
that all the great classes of animals and plants existed from the 
earliest times, it will also show the gradual expansion and 
increase of the more perfect groups. The vertebral animals,, 
for instance, commence with a few fishes, whose number in- 
creases upward ; but no traces of other animals of this class. 
appear, till we rise to the saliferous group, when we meet with 
the tracks of chirotheria, tortoises, and birds. But not till we 
reach the oolitic period do we meet with the bones of the mam- 
malia; and then only two species of marsupialia. No more 
of this class appear till we reach the tertiary strata, where they 
are developed in great numbers, approaching nearer and nearer 
to the present races on the globe as we ascend, until, in the 
historic period, the existing races, ten times more numerous, 
complete the series, with man at their head as the crown of the 
whole ; or, as the poet expresses it, ' the diapason closes full in 
man.' " 

It seems that, before the carboniferous period, fishes were the- 
only vertebrated animals that existed. 

Next, in the carboniferous period, reptiles appeared for the- 
first time. 

In the red sandstone period, a low kind of birds appeared,, 
though none had previously existed. 

In the oolitic period, imperfect mammals appeared, but their 
brains were like those of reptiles, without convolutions. 

In the tertiary period, all the perfect mammals appeared but 
man. 

In the alluvial period, man appeared. 

The common and popular idea is, that everything around us. 
was created in a very brief period ; and, in regard to the man- 
ner of creation, the idea is, that the Supreme Creator made 
things by an immediate and special effort of his power, just as 
3* 



30 INTRODUCTION. 



a potter makes a vessel of clay ; or rather, as some wonderful 
magician transforms things in a moment, so that we can no 
longer recognize them as the same. Nothing has done so much 
to retard the advance of mankind in a knowledge of the natural 
sciences, as these unfounded notions ; and what has rendered 
them so difficult to eradicate, is the fact, that it is believed that 
they are sanctioned by divine revelation. In some instances, 
the error of this opinion is so easily shown, and the demonstra- 
tion of the contrary so palpable, that every one is forced, how- 
ever reluctant, to abandon the fallacy. 

Go to a citizen who lives near Niagara Falls, and ask him 
how long since the banks of that river were created, and the 
probability is that he will say 6000 years. Now proceed with 
him to examine the premises with seience for a guide. Show 
him that the river must have been thirty thousand years cutting 
its way to its present bed, and that the rocks composing the 
channel were once at the bottom of a salt ocean, and had been 
raised by successive convulsions to their present place, before 
the river began to flow. Show him the proofs that many gen- 
erations and races of animals had been created and destroyed 
during the period of time which had elapsed while the rocks 
were rising. Then examine the structure of the rocks them- 
selves, and see them containing the organic remains of an 
immense number of generations of animals that once lived in 
the ocean, which rolled over the rocks when they were in the 
form of soft mud, — and the citizen will easily be induced to 
admit that a hundred thousand years is too little to allow for 
the creation of the rock by deposits made, as they evidently 
were, at the ocean's bottom, of sand, and mud, and pebbles, and 
plants, and animals, and various things which would naturally 
be precipitated from solution or sunk from the surface. The 
citizen would return to his home perfectly satisfied that divine 
revelation had never told the story of the earth's creation, and 






INTRODUCTION. 31 

that he had mistaken figurative expressions in Genesis for 
literal truth. 

Go again to this same citizen, and ask him how long since 
the race of man, and other animals now living, were first cre- 
ated, and the chances are that he will again reply 6000 years. 
He will refer you to the book of Genesis, which relates that on 
the last day of creation man and all animals were created, 
except the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air. 

Now lay before him the evidence that land animals existed in 
the carboniferous period, — that more than a million of years 
afterwards mammals were created in the oolitic period, — that 
all kinds of quadrupeds and apes existed in the tertiary period, 
and not before, — and that man did not exist till after the ter- 
tiary and diluvial periods had passed away. If the citizen is 
an honest man, and a man of good sense, he will at once aban- 
don the idea that all these animals, and man also, were made 
in one and the same day, or in one and the same period, or even 
in one and the same climate. He will perceive that a literal 
interpretation of Genesis cannot possibly be sustained by the 
facts of Geology, and will afterwards content himself with 
regarding it as only a moral and spiritual lesson, given to us in 
the style peculiar to the ancient nations of eastern Asia, and 
adapted to the comprehension of a rude people. 

It is quite as evident, to my mind, that animals and men 
were created gradually and progressively, as that the mountains 
were so created. 

There is no scientific evidence that a single organic thing on 
earth was ever created suddenly. Everything is formed by the 
aggregation of many atoms, and always under circumstances 
favorable to such aggregation. The aggregation of chemicai 
atoms formed minerals, the minerals composed mountains, but 
were an immense number of years in doing so. Just so chemi- 
cal elements combined to form vegetables, and the vegetable 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

organisms, aggregated and arranged in a peculiar manner, 
compose animals. The first animals that were created had 
certain forms adapted to their need and conditions : a change 
in their circumstances produced a change in their forms, until 
man was produced. To say, then, that man was made at once 
in a single day, from dust or from chemical atoms, is to make 
man an exception to all the rest of nature. But the tendency 
of this treatise is to show that man, like all the rest of creation, 
is the result of gradual and progressive superadditions of parts 
and changes of form. Here, again, the literal interpretation of 
Genesis presents an insurmountable difficulty. For, in that 
book we are taught, literally, that man was made of dust, and 
that a perfectly formed and mature man was created before any 
female of the same species existed. The first woman was 
made, not in the way which science recognizes, but the man 
was made to fall into a deep sleep, and a rib was taken from 
his side, and from that rib, in a miraculous and incomprehen- 
sible manner, a perfectly-formed woman was created. Now,. 
if we are to consider this statement as literally true, we are 
estopped from inquiring any further into the origin of man ; 
and if we find the most positive proof that man was created as- 
gradually as the mountains were, we must consider such proofs 
as so many fallacies. 

It is useless to evade or to disguise the truth, that if we are 
to insist upon the literal interpretation of Genesis, we must 
totally abandon Geology, Astronomy, and Physiology, when 
applied to events which took place before the historic period 
commenced, and which have left their records upon the face of 
nature for our inspection. The literal and popular interpreta- 
tion of this book does violence to every principle, not only of 
science, but even of common sense ; for it conveys the idea 
distinctly that the world is stationary, upon immovable foun- 
dations, instead of turning upon its axis; — that the stars and 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

sun and moon are set in a solid firmament ; — that rain-water 
comes from above the firmament, and, of course, from above the 
stars ; — that fruit-trees and herbs were made before the sun 
was created; — that rain did not fall till after the creation of 
man, though Geology shows that it fell ages before; — that 
rainbows did not exist till the time of Noah, about 4000 years 
ago ; — that serpents once possessed the power of human speech, 
and more than the power of human wit ; — that the first man 
was created for the very purpose of tilling the ground, and was 
engaged in that employment while he was utterly naked and 
solitary ; — that the first-born man was a farmer, a murderer, a 
vagabond, a married man, though his mother was the only- 
woman in existence ; — that he was marked, to save him from 
being slain by " any man" though no man existed but his; 
father, and no other man could exist but such as were yet to* 
be born of his mother ; — that men suddenly fell off from living 
900 years to 70 years ; — that all existing animals, except those 
that live in water, sprung from the few that floated in one 
vessel with Noah ; — and that all men, of all colors and features; 
and characters, originated with Noah ; and many other equally 
unnatural and improbable things are commonly believed, be- 
cause it is supposed that unbelief is sinful and dangerous. It 
would seem that a little reflection ought to convince any candid 
mind that such a measure of credulity is not necessary to our 
salvation. 

It is an essential element of the Christian doctrine, that the 
sin of disobedience was actually committed by the founders of 
the human family ; that punishment followed as a consequence^ 
and that repentance and atonement are necessary to regain the 
divine favor. The book of Genesis plainly teaches the fact, that 
the sin of disobedience was committed by our ancestors, and that. 
it was followed by divine displeasure. It is necessary to believe 
this, in order to be fairly entitled to be considered as orthodox 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

Christians ; but it is by no means necessary for us to believe that 
the tempter was a living, animal serpent, and used articulate 
human speech ; nor that the tree of knowledge was an apple 
tree, or any other real vegetable substance ; nor that woman 
was made of a rib-bone ; nor that Cain married his mother or 
his sister ; nor that all mankind sprung from Noah ; — in short, 
we are not required to believe anything which is absurd and 
revolting, merely because it is taught by the strict letter of 
Genesis, especially when it is obvious that the language is 
allegorical, and intended to teach a spiritual and moral truth 
only. 



ARTICLE V. 

RELATION OF FAITH TO SCIENCE. 

The Christian revelation appeals to faith founded upon reason. 
Science appeals to facts founded upon sensation and perception. 
Science relates to this life and the material universe, so far as 
it can be perceived by our senses. Revelation relates to anoth- 
er and an unseen world, and to another life, which it is sup- 
posed has no parallel nor analogy in this state of existence. 
Revelation relates to future things, which cannot be proved by 
past experience, nor tested by scientific ordeals. 

When the pulse ceases to throb, and the heart is still, — 
when the muscles no longer move, — when the lustre of the 
eye is dim, and the tongue is silent, — where then is the mind ? 
Let us enter the temples of science, and interrogate her most 
perfect oracles. Alas ! they are dumb ! They are gazing with 
speechless wonder upon the corpse of humanity. The outward 
form is there, — the bones and muscles, brain and nerves. The 
features still bear the stamp which was impressed upon them 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

by the mind; — where now is that mind? Does it still exist ? 
If a man die, shall he live again ? Can sensation, or perception, 
or experiment, penetrate the caverns of death, and descend into 
the depths of eternity? 

Science sheds no light upon immortality. Astronomy may 
teach us the existence of a number of moving masses, — their 
distances, densities and revolutions, — but it can perceive no 
immortal beings there. No souls of men who once inhabited 
the earth are seen amid all the vast globes which the telescope 
surveys. No heaven of saints, no hell of demons, — no God, 
nor angel, nor any animated form, — meets the wearied eye, in 
all those distant spheres. 

If we take the microscope, it reveals to us the existence ot 
unnumbered myriads of beings, but all more frail, short-lived 
and helpless, than even ourselves. We see animals roving 
through the forest, the ocean, and the air, all possessed of limbs 
and senses and minds, which they use to minister to their wants ; 
and science presents to man no higher motives of action than 
these animals possess : — to live, to eat, sleep, sport, decay and 
die, leaving posterity to the same inevitable fate, — this is the 
lesson, this the moral, this the religion, of science ! 

Anatomy shows us our limbs, and brain, and blood, acting and 
being acted upon like telegraphic machines, operating on gal- 
vanic principles ; the mind itself depending, like any physical 
power, upon material agencies, — being at various times weak, 
deranged, powerful, or suspended. 

The only immortality which science seems to teach is the 
immortality of matter and its properties ! Oxygen may be, 
nay, it must be, immortal. The chemical elements will exist 
in imperishable perfection when individual man is gone forever, 
and his mind is lost to scientific ken. If science does not deny 
the mind's immortality, neither does it assert it ; it stands mute, 
like an idiot who cannot comprehend the question, or else it 



36 INTRODUCTION. 






demands that religion shall be tried and proved by scientific 
rules. Faith is rejected as an element of science; yet faith is 
the foundation of religion. 

When the pleasures and toils of life are past, — when death 
is immediately before us, — when all science and human skill 
are useless, — religion then offers her aid, and claims our con- 
fidence and faith in return. 

Man naturally desires to live, to continue to be ; he shrinks 
instinctively from destruction. When he composes himself to 
sleep, it is with a calm faith and confidence, derived from expe- 
rience, that he shall rise again, invigorated and refreshed by the 
temporary suspension of his powers ; but when he lies down to 
die, experience gives no such assurance, for death is a bourn 
from whence no traveller returns. It is, therefore, natural for 
him to look around with anxious longing for something to sus- 
tain him. As the earth recedes from beneath his feet, and a 
bottomless ocean rolls below, he longs for some safe island-home 
in the midst of the shoreless gulf, — some ship, or even a 
plank, — something, anything; a floating straw is clutched 
with eager madness by the drowning wretch. Such is dying 
man, with all the light and aid of science, without religious 
faith. Let us not longer wonder that man is a religious being ; 
let us not be surprised at the extent even of his superstition. 
It is his floating straw, his plank, his ship, his happy island- 
home, when earth has sunk around, with all that once he knew. 
Blessed religion ! even in its forms of error it is better than the 
stoic firmness upon which alone the sage depends. The be- 
liever quits this world, as the Israelites left the land of Egypt, 
with joyful hope of another and a better home in a promised 
land. The philosophic sceptic goes, like Lot's wife from her 
much-loved home and friends, with regret and despair, casting a 
longing, lingering look behind. The only relief which science 
affords is by freezing the agonized mind into an unfeeling pet- 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

rifaction, — a pillar of salt, — a mineral statue of human en- 
durance, destitute alike of sorrow and of hope. Blessed 
religion ! Like the angelic messenger, it hurries the homeless 
outcast to his heavenly mountain Zoar, where he may rest in 
safety when all the cities of the plain, with all their denizens, 
are lost forever in the fiery gulf. 

It requires a powerful intellect and a towering, self-relying 
firmness, to die with calm and stoical indifference, — reckless 
and remorseless of past errors, — stern and unmoved by the 
present agony, — regardless of the vanishing scenes of sur- 
rounding enjoyment, and fearless of the future retribution. 
Few men can die in this manner. It is impossible for any 
man, not an idiot nor a maniac, to die with pleasure without 
religious faith. Scepticism merely professes to remove fear by 
removing superstition ; but it also destroys all the foundations 
of hope. It places man upon a level with a vegetable ; equally 
incapable, after death, of suffering or enjoyment. Religious 
faith offers pleasures without end and without measure ; it 
promises more than the most extravagant imagination can con- 
ceive. In return, it requires nothing but faith and submission, 
such as a child can give. The most uncultivated intellect, the 
most uncivilized and barbarous manners, are as perfectly capa- 
ble of performing all that it requires, as the most gifted and 
polished of the earth, — and perhaps even more so. Any one 
who would be eminently pious must become like a little child. 
The philosophy which proudly relies upon its own intellectual 
ability, scorns the humble credence of religion. The ignorance 
that sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind, worships 
and adores with confidence, humility and fear ; while the phi- 
losophy that sees nothing in the clouds but a combination of 
oxygen and hydrogen, floating upon the air and producing elec- 
tric phenomena, feels exalted by the knowledge, and looks with 
contempt upon the wondering savage, who bends in adoration 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

under the impression that thunder is the immediate voice of 
God. 

It is by no means astonishing that man is a religious being ; 
and it is worthy of serious inquiry, whether it is not better for 
most men to be superstitious than to be utterly irreligious, — I 
mean better for their own temporal happiness. Is not the In- 
dian more happy in his prospect of reaching the far-off island 
of future happiness, than the civilized scientific sceptic, who 
looks to annihilation as his certain fate ? How many of our 
fellow-men are now happy in their religious prospects ! — it 
may be that most of them are in error. Let us grant that they 
are so, and that science would expose those errors; if it would 
also destroy their hopes of future happiness, would it not be 
better for them to remain in ignorance ? What is it that sus- 
tains the Indian savage at the stake, tortured by his enemies ? 
It is religious hope, founded upon religious faith. His death 
song is a song of joy and triumph. 

I go to the isles of the great Manito, 
"Whose shores through the mist I distinguish e'en now ; 
I shall hunt on the mountains and fish in the streams 
Of the land that I often have seen in my dreams. 

There shall I hold in my fondest embrace 
The braves and the chiefs of my nation and race ; 
They shall applaud me, and welcome their son, 
And boast of the heroic deeds he has done. 

Spirit of evil, — thou never canst go 
To the far happy land of the great Manito j 
Spirit of evil, — spirit of pain, — 
Farewell, — we never shall meet again. 

Come on with your vengeance, — your tortures increase, — 
I long for the blow that my soul shall release j 
I hasten, — I come, — my fluttering soul 
Is unfolding her pinions to fly to her goal. 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

In a dark, gloomy cavern, far under the world, 
Where the ghosts of the wicked by Manito are hurled, 
There the foes of my tribe shall forever remain, — 
Their only companions the spirits of pain. 

But I go to the isles of the great Manito, 
Whose shores through the mist I distinguish e'en now ; 
I shall hunt on the mountains and fish in the streams 
Of the land that I often have seen in my dreams. 

I can appreciate the feelings which actuated the professor at 
Padua, who, it is said, refused to look through Galileo's tube, 
lest it might unsettle his religious faith. I can understand the 
pious horror with which the Brahmin looked through the 
microscope, and saw that all his food was filled with living 
creatures, so that it was impossible to eat without destroying 
life, while his creed forbade him to eat any animal food. I 
have always entertained the most charitable feelings towards 
those (and I have encountered many) who regard Geology and 
Phrenology as destructive of all that they hold sacred in religion, 
and who oppose them on that ground, while the most unfounded, 
and even silly notions, concerning these subjects, are applauded, 
sanctioned, and encouraged by them, if they appear to harmo- 
nize with their faith, and lend it some support. 

When we consider the immense and eternal consequences 
which the believer considers as depending upon his religious 
faith, we ought not to be surprised at his unwillingness to hear 
or see anything which threatens to undermine its foundations, 
and to overthrow the happiness which he builds upon it. True, 
his apprehensions may be unfounded, but they are none the less 
terrible for that reason. If they have once taken possession of 
his mind, they create a painful anxiety and an indefinite dread, 
which are the greater in proportion as his piety is the more sin- 
cere, and his scientific acquirements the more limited. He has 
read his Bible more than all other books, and listened, with deep 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

and solemn reverence, to his minister's commentaries upon the 
sacred text. From his childhood he has been taught, by his pious 
mother, his Sunday-school teacher, his schoolmaster, his school- 
books, and by all others whom he respects and admires, that in 
six days, of 24 hours each, God made this world, — the sun, and 
moon, and stars, to light this world, — the fish, fowl, beast, and 
•human kind, — all in one week, and that not yet six thousand 
years ago. Now, let us imagine this man listening to Emmons 
or Silliman, Hitchcock or Lyell ; — hearing the announcement 
that animals, ocean, air, and earth, sun, moon, and stars, existed 
millions of years ago, — that this world was once a burning 
mass of matter, upon which no animal could exist, and has been 
millions of years cooling down to its present condition. Let 
him now be told how mind was first introduced into the world 
in the form of a vegetable, next a worm, a fish, a reptile, a bird, 
a beast, an ape, then a man. Let him see it demonstrated 
that man himself, in the womb, is first a worm, then succes- 
sively a fish, a reptile, an inferior mammal, and then a man. 
Can it be expected that this man can listen without disgust to 
such startling propositions ? Will he not fear that they are 
true, instead of being convinced of their truth ? Will he not, 
like Desdemona, think " in faith 't is strange, 'tis passing strange," 
and "wish" he "had not heard it"? He goes to a clergyman 
for relief, and is told that Geology, Embryology, and Phrenol- 
ogy, are all mere vain and idle conjectures, founded on human 
reason, and is dismissed with the exhortation, " Let God be "rue, 
and every man a liar." He turns to another of the same denom- 
ination, and is informed that Geology is true, but that Phrenol- 
ogy is false and heretical ; and that the difficulties of Geology 
are easily avoided by a proper construction of certain words in 
the book of Genesis. He turns to another, and is told that Geol- 
ogy and Phrenology are both true, and of great importance, and 
that the book of Genesis is a beautiful and truthful allegory. 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

By this time the poor man is bewildered ; his faith is unsettled 
from its former firm position ; he is unhappy. The simple, con- 
fiding credence of his early days is gone. He is forced to con- 
strue the Bible from its plain literal meaning, and adapt it to the 
novel teachings of modern science, which he understands but 
imperfectly. He has been seduced to eat of the fruit of the tree 
of knowledge, and is hereafter banished from the paradise of 
simplicity and ignorance. He cannot return. The cherub of 
science looks every way, and guards the entrance with a sword 
of burning light. He is doomed to toil and sweat amid the 
briars and thorns of a real, material world ; to be born in 
weakness and sorrow, and to die in despair. He has learned 
too little, or too much. He has drank just enough to intox- 
icate his brain ; another draught will sober him again. 

How welcome now is the voice of the teacher who will recon- 
cile faith with philosophy ! How delightful to hear that igno- 
rance is not necessarily the mother of devotion, and that science 
is the handmaid of religion ! How refreshing and encouraging 
to learn that men like Herschell, Silliman, Lyell, Emmons, 
Hitchcock, Buckland and others, are none the less Christians 
for being eminent philosophers . Let us, then, be emboldened 
by their examples. Let us not fear to look through the tele- 
scopic tube of science. Let us go forward with full confidence, 
like Bunyan's Christian, up the hill of difficulty, encouraged by 
the cheering voice of Mr. Interpreter on the hill, saying that the 
lions are chained and harmless, notwithstanding their fright- 
ening roar ; that the book of Genesis is not to be construed 
literally when it seems inconsistent with natural science ; that 
it teaches a great moral lesson concerning the consequences of 
man's disobedience to the divine command ; and that, while the 
moral truths inculcated are of the utmost importance, the physi- 
cal doctrines and illustrations belonged to a barbarous age, and 
may be rejected with propriety. 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 



SECTION I. — ORIGIN OF THE EARTH. 

Human knowledge begins and ends in ignorance. If 
we attempt to trace anything, from its origin to its final 
result, we are soon met by insurmountable obstacles. 
In regard to its origin, we first find it arising from an 
abyss of eternal and infinite darkness. From this point 
we can trace it for a short space, but it soon sinks from 
our view in a direction opposite to that from which it 
arose, and no human power can follow it to its end. What 
we call the beginning and end of things, is but the begin- 
ning and end of our power of perceiving them. These 
remarks apply to the origin of the earth and its inhabit- 
ants. We know nothing of the origin of the earth, ex- 
cept what we can learn from its internal appearances 
and structure. The Bible informs us that " In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth," but it 
gives us no scientific details concerning the processes by 
which this wonderful result was produced. We are left 
to ascertain, by our own researches, and by the exercise 
of our powers of perception and reasoning, the successive 
steps which led from the beginning to the present. Our 
knowledge on this subject is mostly derived from various 




44 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

sciences, which, seventy years ago, had no existence. 
Some astronomers have conjectured that the sun, the 
earth, the moon, and all the planets and satellites of our 
solar system, were once a single connected mass of mat- 
ter, so expanded by heat as to be one vast solar wheel of 
semi-transparent vapor, and occupying all the space that 
is now vacant between the planets. This immense 
mass of fiery mist gradually cooled and contracted to 
its present condition. The planet of our solar system 
which is most distant from the sun, was the first-born, 
and was formed at the time when the body of the sun 
extended to that distant region. It is supposed to be 
composed of particles which the primeval sun shed from 
its surface. The next planet was many ages after given 
off in the same manner from the sun ; and thus the earth 
and all the planets of our system were derived from 
what was originally one solar mass. The earth and the 
moon were once a single globe, and occupied all the 
space which at present exists between the earth and the 
moon. The moon was shed from the surface of the 
earth, in the same manner that the earth was shed from 
the sun. Since then the earth has cooled, and shrunk to 
its present size. Some geologists, taking the earth 
where the astronomers leave it, — in a state of igneous 
fluidity, — attempt to account for its present form and 
structure by the continued operation of the same cause, 
namely, by its cooling and contracting at the surface. 
They teach that when the earth cooled sufficiently, a 
rocky crust was formed upon its surface. The elements, 
which now constitute all the water in the world, then 
existed in a gaseous form around this rocky crust, — an 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 45 

atmosphere composed of the elements of future oceans. 
As this atmosphere and the earth cooled, the gases be- 
came condensed to aqueous vapor, then mist, rain, rivers, 
oceans. These waters washed the rocky crust, and 
divided and disintegrated its particles, and deposited 
them, forming mud, banks, swamps, islands, continents. 
It was during these changes from gas to liquid, from 
liquid to solid, from solid rocks to soil, that organization 
began. 



SECTION II. — ORIGIN OF ORGANIZATION. 

Originally it is assumed that every substance now in 
existence was in a gaseous form. The loss of some 
portion of its caloric reduced some parts of the earth's 
surface to a liquid state; and then, by a still further 
reduction of temperature, some portion became solid. 
Here it was that the rudiments of organization began ; 
for solid substances, when precipitated from a liquid 
solution, tend to assume regular forms. This process is 
denominated crystallization. Sometimes the crystals 
arrange themselves in forms very similar to the forms 
of vegetation ; this fact is often demonstrated in winter 
mornings, upon our windows, in the various fantastic 
forms which the frozen vapor assumes. The resem- 
blance of these figures to vegetables strikes every observer, 
and inclines us to suspect that the same general law 
operates in both cases. 

The immediate cause of crystallization is unknown. 
In some way it seems to be related to magnetism, elec- 
tricity, and caloric ; but this only increases the mystery. 



46 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

We only know that particles have a tendency to arrange 
themselves in a regular manner under certain circum- 
stances ; and that, under the same circumstances, pre- 
cisely the same forms of crystals are always produced. 
The chemical composition of the crystals is also uniform, 
so that a proper crystal is not composed of fractions of 
different substances; but particles of a similar nature 
tend to combine together in a manner which almost 
seems as if they had the power of perception and of 
choice. The mystery of organization begins here. How 
do the particles of crystals arrange themselves in such 
regular and beautiful forms? We do not know the 
cause, but as we are certain of the fact, we call it a law 
of nature. This law we presume to be enacted by the 
great Author of universal law, for certain definite pur- 
poses, and we find it always ready to accomplish these 
purposes whenever circumstances require it. 



SECTION m. — ORIGIN OF VEGETATION. 

Vegetation seems to be essentially a modification of 
the principles of crystallization. Certain mineral sub- 
stances in the earth are held in solution by water, and 
certain gaseous substances are held in solution by the 
atmosphere. When a proper degree of heat is applied, 
the two solutions act upon each other in a way which is 
not well understood, but the result is a combination of 
the ingredients of both, which assumes regular forms. 
This is vegetation, — a peculiar species of atmospheric 
crystallization, involving solids, fluids and gases in organic 
combination. Crystallization must have taken place on 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 4.7 

the earth long before vegetation was possible. Crystalliza- 
tion would happen as soon as the gases were transformed 
to solids by the cooling of the earth's surface ; but vege- 
tation could not take place until after the surface of the 
earth had cooled sufficiently to allow water to remain 
upon its surface a considerable time without evapora- 
tion, and the action of the water upon the rocky surface 
must have collected a mass of particles of the right in- 
gredients to constitute soil. 

The first vegetables that existed on earth were proba- 
bly destitute of flowers, fruits and seeds, such as modern 
vegetables possess ; they propagated after the manner of 
crystals, by reproducing themselves. They grew in the 
water; land vegetables were not produced until some 
time afterwards. The first vegetables that grew upon 
the land, even at the poles, were such as now are pro- 
duced only in the hottest climates, near the equator. 
The changes which vegetables have undergone, from the 
earliest geologic times to the present, are such as the in- 
creasing coldness of the earth would naturally render 
necessary. 



SECTION IV. — ORIGIN OF ANIMALS. 

The condition of the earth, before animals existed, was 
more favorable to vegetable than to animal life. Vege- 
tables can flourish in an atmosphere which contains so 
large a quantity of carbonic acid gas that any animal 
would immediately perish there. From the time which 
followed the solidifying of the earth's crust, until the 
time that animals were produced, — and it was probably 



48 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

an immense period, — the whole earth was enveloped in 
a carbonic atmosphere, and the whole primitive ocean 
must have been so saturated with carbonic acid that no 
marine animal could have existed. But, under these 
same circumstances, vegetables might have nourished as 
soon as a proper soil was formed, and long prior to the 
purification of the atmosphere, to fit it for animal life. 
Again, the first animals must have fed upon vegetables ■ 
and this would have been impossible, if vegetables had 
not previously existed. The conclusion is, that vegeta- 
bles were created before animals. 

There are many circumstances which indicate that 
animals were originally merely modified vegetables; 
one is, that every animal, from the highest to the lowest,, 
is constituted of two distinct apparatuses, one of which 
is, to all intents and purposes, a vegetable. The organs 
of animals are divided, by all systematic physiologists, 
into the vegetative and the voluntary. The vegetative 
functions are those which are concerned in sustaining 1 
the organic and unconscious life of the body. These 
functions, in all healthy animals, are independent of the 
will ; they relate merely to the growth, vegetation, and 
replenishment of the organs. These functions are some- 
times denominated the organic functions, while the func- 
tions in which mind is concerned are denominated the 
animal functions. This distinction is not metaphysical, 
nor merely theoretical, but is founded upon anatomical 
and physiological demonstrations. In man, for instance,, 
all the animal (conscious) functions depend upon the 
brain, and are entirely suspended during sleep ; but 
the vegetative (unconscious) functions depend upon the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 49 

involuntary ganglia, and proceed without interruption 
during sleep. Animals, and some human monsters, have 
been born without brains, and yet lived for several hours, 
and performed all the vegetative but none of the animal 
functions. Experiments have been performed, by Le 
Galois and others, upon living animals, in which the ani- 
mal organs (the brain and its dependent nerves) were de- 
stroyed, and yet, by keeping up respiration artificially, the 
vegetative functions were continued for several hours. 

It may be assumed, therefore, as a settled truth in phy- 
siology, that the part of man which the brain and mind con- 
trol, is a distinct piece of machinery from the vegetative 
part, which digests, assimilates, circulates, nourishes, and 
decays, like any vegetable, independently of the mind. 

Another great truth which tends to establish this prop- 
osition that animals were originally modified plants, is, 
that the organs of the animal functions are actually 
superadded anatomically to those of the vegetative func- 
tions; in other words, the brain and its connecting 
nerves of voluntary motion and sensation were evidently 
created after the organs which relate merely to nutrition, 
and were made to grow out of them. Spurzheim insisted, 
with much force, in his work on the anatomy of the 
brain, that the brain is a continuation of the spinal chord, 
and that the spinal chord is not a continuation of the 
brain, as was formerly supposed. This view is now 
generally adopted by physiologists. The organs con- 
cerned in mental and voluntary motions are but auxili- 
ary appendages to those concerned in vegetative opera- 
5 



50 PHRENO-GEOLOGY, 

tions. Another confirmatory fact is, that before birth 
the organs of the vegetative functions are active and per- 
fect before the organs of the animal functions and mind 
are developed or needed in any degree. The vegetative 
part of man is, in fact, the only part which acts at all 
before birth, and is as perfect then as it ever is after- 
wards. 

Another important link in this chain of reasoning is 
the fact that the animal organs which were first created 
are such merely as are necessary to sustain and preserve 
the vegetative organs, and were evidently created for 
that very purpose. To illustrate : suppose a plant so 
situated that it needed nourishment which was just be- 
yond its roots and limbs, but which could not be obtained 
by the plant without a movement. Now, the very low- 
est and first created animal organs are precisely those 
which the vegetable would require, under these circum- 
stances, to enable it to make the necessary movements 
to obtain proper nourishment. Another fact, and one 
which seems to render the chain complete, is, that the 
constitution of man is composed of a series of super- 
additions, the lowest or foundation of which constitutes 
him a vegetable, and the highest constitutes him a man , 
while the intermediate organs are such as are possessed 
by the different classes of lower animals. But another 
great fact, hitherto unknown, is developed in this work, 
which adds interest and value to all our previous knowl- 
edge on this subject, and that is, that the series of super- 
additions in the human constitution, is such as the suc- 
cession of geologic changes would require and produce, 
by the sub-creative power of stimulating circumstances 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 51 

with which organized beings have been surrounded dur- 
ing their progress from crystallization to humanity. 



SECTION V. — ORIGIN OF MIND, OR CONSCIOUSNESS. 

Consciousness first made its appearance in the world 
in a very humble garb, and to subserve a very unambi- 
tious purpose. It first inhabited animals which were 
but one degree above vegetables. The first uses to which 
consciousness was put on earth were low and servile, but 
exceedingly useful. It aided the most grovelling and un- 
intellectual beings that ever had existence to gain the few 
objects which their low natures required. Why was con- 
sciousness needed by those animals? Vegetables accom- 
plished the same objects without consciousness which 
those animals performed by its means. Consciousness 
did not elevate its first possessors in any degree above 
vegetables, unless the mere possession of the faculty itself 
is to be taken as evidence of elevation. What I mean is, 
that consciousness did not tend to any more elevated ob- 
jects than those which vegetables attained without its 
assistance. What, then, were its uses ? The first created 
animals were merely conscious, moving vegetables. In 
their structure there was the least possible departure from 
the vegetable form. In their tendencies there was the 
same end in view, namely, the growth of the individual, 
and reproduction. The vegetable accomplished this, 
the animal did no more ; though he had mind, sensation, 
perception and volition to aid him, all that he accom- 
plished was nourishment and reproduction. 



52 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

But although the animal accomplished no more than 
the vegetable, he gained the same objects under more 
difficult circumstances. The animal obtained nourish- 
ment and reproduced his kind under circumstances in 
which the vegetable would have perished ; and this he 
was enabled to do by means of consciousness and its- 
appendages. 

When a vegetable is situated in a dry and dark place, 
it must die ; it is utterly helpless ; it is blind, senseless 
and motionless. Although at the distance of only a few 
inches there is abundance of moisture, soil and light, 
yet the unconscious being must perish for want of them. 
If, under these circumstances, the plant could receive 
such faculties as would enable it to move to the moist 
and sunny soil, it might preserve its existence, and con- 
tinue its race to other generations. It would then be an 
animal. Here we get a clear idea of the distinction be- 
tween these two classes of beings; we can now under- 
stand the uses of consciousness in those animals which 
are considered but one step higher than vegetables. It 
is to enable them to bring themselves into contact with 
the objects which they need when those objects are at 
some distance from them. This was the purpose for 
which mind was first introduced into the world, and 
this was the only use to which it was put for millions 
of years. The only emotions which mind could then 
produce, (in the first animals,) where those of suffoca- 
tion, hunger, thirst, pain and amorousness ; these emo- 
tions were relieved by those movements which were 
necessary for nourishment and reproduction. Conscious- 
ness was not developed until change of place was neces- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 53 

sary, and then it was made a part of the apparatus 
by which the change of position was produced. Con- 
sciousness and locomotion were introduced together, as 
dependent parts of one apparatus. The word locomotion 
implies that the whole animal moves from place to place; 
but many animals merely move their limbs about them, 
and never move their bodies. They are 

" Fixed like a plant to its peculiar spot, 
To draw nutrition, propagate and rot." 

Their movements cannot properly be denominated 
locomotions, but they are strictly conscious-motions ■, that 
is, motions attended with consciousness ; and I shall take 
the liberty to use the term conscious-motion in this sense, 
and the term unconscious-motion to designate vegetative 
motions, which are involuntary. 



SECTION VI. — ORIGIN OF MUSCULAR MOTION IN 
CONNECTION WITH MIND. 

Mind originated in the necessity of moving to supply 
the vegetative functions. Mind is inseparably connected 
with muscular motion, and was created to guide it to its 
proper objects. Mind came into the world when certain 
organized beings were in peril ; it came to save them 
from death, by directing their first feeble movements to 
the objects which they required. 

Here stood the plant, and there stood the object which 
it needed; neither could approach the other. If they 
both floated in air, or even in water, we could imagine 
that some degree of mutual attraction might bring the 




54 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

plant and the nourishing object (food) together on mag- 
netic principles. Perhaps animal life did commence in 
such floating circumstances. Perhaps the magnetic prin- 
ciple did operate to bring the plant in contact with its 
object. It is fully settled that electricity is concerned in 
chemical attraction, in crystallization, and in muscular 
motion and sensation. And it is also settled that mag- 
netism is, in effect, but a modification of electricity. 
Every new discovery in physiology tends to bring it 
within the jurisdiction of chemistry. Every discovery 
and improvement in chemistry tends to bring it within 
the jurisdiction of electric principles. And every discov- 
ery in electricity tends to prove that magnetism, gal- 
vanism, caloric, light, electricity, and chemical attraction, 
are all related to one general etherean principle, which 
brings all existing things into communication with each 
other. It is now thought that the brain — the great 
fountain of animal motions — operates on electro-gal- 
vanic principles, or at least on analogous principles to 
those which are concerned in galvanic and electric phe- 
nomena. All these things being considered, it is not 
extravagant to suppose that the first animals were moved 
by the same cause, though operating in a more direct 
and simple manner. 

My conjecture is, that the action of a species of 
magnetism between the plant and its food produced a 
tendency in the plant to move its parts toward the food, 
and thus originated muscular motion and animal func- 
tion. The best physiologists ascribe all muscular 
motion to the operation of a nervous fluid, or influence, 
similar to the galvanic, which is invisible, but which 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 55 

uses the nerves for its conductors. I suspect that for- 
merly this same etherean influence was much more pow- 
erful than now, in consequence of the earth being in a 
state more favorable for its development. It may, there- 
fore, under peculiar circumstances, have acted more 
effectively upon the organization of plants than it can at 
the present time. Admitting all that I have conjectured 
in regard to the origin of muscular movements, it may 
enable us to understand how it was possible for muscular 
motion to commence in plants, and increase with suc- 
cessive generations, until an animal resulted. But this 
would, by no means, explain how mind came to guide 
the movement. Does mind exist in every atom of mat- 
ter, or in a limited class of atoms, or is it the result of a 
combination'? This cannot be explained at present. 
Consciousness must be assumed as having a latent exist- 
ence beforehand, just as atoms of matter themselves 
existed, and always must exist, because they cannot be 
annihilated even in imagination. In reasoning upon any 
subject, we must commence by assuming something 
which cannot be explained. Here we commence, then, 
by assuming that the principle of consciousness, or mind, 
exists in every animal in the centre of his nervous 
system; or, more properly speaking, it exists in that 
central part of his nervous system where sensation ter- 
minates and volition commences. But whence the con- 
scious principle was derived, we cannot tell. When an 
animal moves towards any object, it does so because the 
object first sent an etherean impression from its surface, 
thence along the animal's nerves of external sensation to 
his internal consciousness or sensorium ; and the motion 



56 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

of the animal is always in return for such an impression, 
directly or indirectly. This impression is called a stimu- 
lus, motive, or inducement. 



SECTION VE. — ORIGIN OF NEW ORGANS. 

If the organs of animals were made perfect at first, 
without the agency of external circumstances, it must 
have been done by a special miracle, and not by natural 
causes, and the miraculous power must have been exerted 
as often as any new organ was added. 

To my mind, it seems utterly improbable that organs 
were made at first except by the same natural causes 
which afterwards normally operated upon them. We 
know, to a certainty, that the want of stimulus tends to 
the annihilation of organs ; and we know that a new 
kind of stimulus, applied to organization, tends to de- 
velop a new faculty. The use of tobacco, opium, or 
animal food, begets a tendency to continue its use. All 
sorts of practices have been rendered agreeable by long 
continuance. The goitre of the Alps, — a peculiar 
change in the structure of the throat, — was begotten by 
a peculiar stimulus, and was afterwards perpetuated for 
many generations. If all men but these who had goitre 
should suddenly die, and their history be lost, in future 
ages it might be supposed that the goitre was derived 
from Adam, and that it had been possessed by all his 
descendants. Or if the goitre should increase until half 
of the human race should possess it, it might hereafter 
be a question whether it had been acquired by the one 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 57 

half, or lost by the other; just as it now is a question 
what complexion our first ancestors possessed, white, 
black, or yellow. Sometimes external circumstances 
produce very powerful effects upon the unborn, marking 
them in a singular manner ; and such marks, thus pro- 
duced, may be transmitted to other generations, and 
originate a new species. I know a family in which the 
mother, being frightened by a wounded and limping cat, 
brought forth a daughter, who limps in a similar man- 
ner ; and this daughter has two sons, both of whom are 
afflicted in the same way precisely. This fact is instruct- 
ive, and agrees with many others, well authenticated, 
of a like character; and all tend to prove that a new 
species may result from an accident, a disease, a violent 
impression, or any cause which radically affects the 
organs of a parent. If the new species thus produced 
happened to be, by their new peculiarity, better adapted 
to the circumstances and difficulties that beset them, it 
would be likely to be perpetuated, and might seem like 
a miraculous adaptation. It may be that the differences 
in human complexion originated in this way. White 
men may be perpetuated and improved albinoes, whose 
ancestors were black, and whose whiteness was at first 
a diseased condition, but is rendered permanent by its 
adaptation to mountainous and northern regions. 

If it is urged that the goitre, and other instances of the 
addition of new parts, only show the modification of 
organs which already exist, and not the origin of new 
ones, I answer that the super-addition of phreno-nervous 
organs is by a similar modification of the preexisting 
organs. What we call new organs, are often, if not 



58 

always, mere modifications of old organs ; and I particu- 
larly insist, that the whole nervous system of man is but 
a modification of the ganglionic apparatus, which the 
lowest vertebrated animal possesses : and higher animals 
are but modifications of lower ones. If it is admitted, as 
it must be, that the brain is composed of fibres and pulp, 
which in all animals has a similar appearance, structure, 
and chemical composition, and differs in different tribes 
of animals only in its quantity of pulp, and the number 
and direction of its fibres ; and if it is also admitted, as 
it is by all phrenologists, that the vigorous exercise of 
parts adds to their quantity ; and if it is further admitted 
that the changes produced by peculiar exercises are 
transmitted to the next generation ; — if all three of these 
propositions are admitted, it will be inconsistent after- 
wards to deny that the brain of a fish might be elevated, 
by repeated additions, to equal that of man, provided that 
favoring circumstances and abundance of time are al- 
lowed and ordained, by the Supreme Creator, for the 
purpose. 



SECTION Yin. — ORIGIN OF MAN. 

According to the book of Genesis, as commonly under- 
stood, all mankind, at present existing on earth, de- 
scended from Noah, about four thousand years ago. 
Assuming this to be correct, we are at once met by several 
questions, which seem unanswerable, and by an array of 
facts which seem to be insurmountable. First, the monu- 
ments, pyramids, and hieroglyphics of Egypt, prove, 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 59 

beyond all doubt, that Egypt contained an immense popu- 
lation, ancient and permanent religious institutions, and 
a line of powerful monarchs, in the time of Noah. They 
can be traced back from the time of Moses to the very time 
when the flood is supposed to have happened, and many 
years before. Institutions which could only be created 
gradually, and during ages of progressive advancement ; 
monuments built by sovereign authority, rendered sacred 
by the religion of a ceremonious and superstitious people, 
and made inviolable by being the sepulchres of the great 
and the good of a long succession of generations. Their 
authenticity cannot be questioned ; for each monument 
contains public inscriptions, proclaiming the name of the 
sovereign who raised it, the time of his reign, and the 
principal events which marked his career. Each new 
sovereign, on his accession, commenced a new monu- 
ment, for the express purpose of commemorating his 
reign, and of containing his embalmed remains. At 
his death, his successor caused his sepulchre to be 
closed, and his monument to be completed. Besides 
these monuments, there is an immense number of mum- 
mies, each containing a document distinctly dated, which 
plainly describes the person, sex, and rank of the de- 
ceased. 

Second. If all mankind descended from Noah, then 
Negroes, Indians and Malays, as well as Whites, all 
sprang from him as a common parent ; and all the dif- 
ferences of complexion, feature, form and character, have 
been produced by circumstances, such as climate, food, 
and occupation. But these same pyramids rise again 
before us, and show us the pictures, and even the very 



60 PHRENO GEOLOGY. 

skulls, of negroes who existed about the time of Noah, 
and of others who lived but a short time afterwards. In 
the time of the prophet Jeremiah, negroes were so in- 
tensely and permanently black, that the prophet chose 
them as an apt illustration of immutable darkness. Can 
the Ethiopian change his skin? Would the inspired 
prophet have used this language, if he had known (and 
he must have known it if it had been true) that the 
Ethiopians had changed from whites in the short time 
which had elapsed since Noah; and that, by reversing 
the causes, they could be changed back again? 

Third. The ancient Americans were ignorant of the 
use of iron, and so also were the ancient Egyptians; 
whereas, the earliest men mentioned in the Bible under- 
stood the use of iron, and Tubal Cain was an instructor 
of every artificer in brass and iron. This seems to prove 
that the most ancient Egyptians and Americans flour- 
ished before the time of Tubal Cain, or even of the first 
Cain ; and supports the opinion, which has been advanced 
by some able critics, that the Bible account is confined to 
the Hebrew race only. 

Fourth. The ancient Egyptian language was in- 
scribed upon their monuments, and is thus proved to 
have continued essentially unchanged, from a time long 
prior to the supposed time of Noah, to the lime of Solo- 
mon ; yet it was far inferior, and very different, in every 
respect, from the ancient Hebrew. This proves that the 
confusion of tongues did not extend from Babel to Egypt ; 
and, also, that the language of Abraham and his asso- 
ciates was different in its origin and more modern in its 
structure. In this connection it should also be observed. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 61 

that Abraham probably spoke the Hebrew language, and 
that he was a lineal descendant of Shem, the son of No- 
ah, and lived with him more than a hundred years. 
Shem, who was born before the flood, was still living 
when Abraham visited Egypt, and found one of the 
Pharaohs on the throne, and all their institutions in a 
flourishing condition; and monuments are still standing 
which stood then ; and paintings, and skulls of negroes 
and whites, still exist among Egyptian mummies, whose 
owners lived before the visit of Abraham. Does not this 
indicate that the Egyptians were then an ancient people? 
Or; if they descended from Noah, as Abraham did, how 
did it happen that Abraham and his tribe were living 
like wandering Arabs, while the Egyptians were so far 
advanced in permanent civilization, though it was not 
more than five hundred years since the flood? I have 
not space, nor is it necessary, to pursue these inquiries 
further. It must be evident, to every unprejudiced mind, 
that the popular notions on this subject are erroneous, 
and that the whole human race, nor even the white race, 
did not originate at the supposed time of the flood. The 
Rev. Dr. Hitchcock quotes with approbation the opinion 
of the Rev. John Pye Smith, that the flood did not ex- 
tend beyond a limited region in Asia; and, of course, 
that it did not destroy but a small portion of the men 
and animals then existing. Some distinguished natural- 
ists think that the creation described in Genesis refers to 
a limited part of Asia, and to a limited part of the hu- 
man species; and that Negroes, Indians, Chinese, and 
various other races, were created at other times, and in 
other places. 



62 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

Leaving the Bible out of the question, the tendency 
of all that we know is, to prove that man existed on this 
earth thousands of years before the computed time of 
Noah or Adam, and that he has arrived at his present 
elevation from a very low origin. Even written history 
proves that man has gradually advanced from a condi- 
tion of savage barbarism. We have no reason for sup- 
posing that man advanced from the condition of a brute 
to that of a human savage by any other means than 
those by which history shows that he afterwards arose 
from the condition of a savage to that of a philosopher. 

The resemblance of the monkey, orang, and especially 
of the chimpanzee, to human beings, and the approx- 
imation of the lowest tribes of men to the highest apes, 
has led many to suspect that man may have formerly 
belonged to one of these lower orders. But I do not be- 
lieve this. It seems to me much more probable that the 
human race has been distinct ever since they abandoned 
the ocean. If man and the apes ever belonged to one 
race, it was probably before they became inhabitants of 
the land, and while all the higher animals were mere 
reptiles. It is certain that the ancestors of man and the 
apes were once all reptiles, or else that a special miracle 
of creation has been interposed to prevent it, and to cre- 
ate man suddenly, in a manner which passes human com- 
prehension. If he has been created by a special miracle, 
then, of course, we cannot be expected to explain such an 
operation on scientific principles; but if he has been gradu- 
ally raised from the condition of a reptile, we can under- 
stand some of the successive steps by which he has been 
elevated. It is also quite certain, that, if man was created 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 63 

suddenly by a miracle, yet all the marks of gradual cre- 
ation are left upon him, so as to counterfeit the work of 
nature most perfectly. 

There was certainly a time when reptiles were the 
highest animals that existed on earth. It is probable 
that our ancestors were among these reptiles. At that 
time, the ancestors of all the different races of men and 
of apes may have been but one species. If the ancestors 
of the apes left the water first, and became permanent 
residents on the land, they would immediately assume a 
character peculiar to themselves, and suited to their new 
habitation. They would soon differ from their marine 
brethren in many important particulars. Ages afterward, 
another portion may have left the water, and landed on 
a different shore, and become the ancestors of negroes. 
Still later, and on another island, the ancestors of the 
white man may have landed; and thus, though all orig- 
inally were one species, they have been so differently 
affected by the different circumstances which have oper- 
ated on them, that they seem to be fundamentally unlike. 
Amidst all the conjecture and uncertainty which attend 
this investigation, there are some important facts, which 
are perfectly certain, and which serve to guide us on the 
main route of our inquiry. It is certain that the highest 
and most intellectual inhabitants of the earth were suc- 
cessively fishes, reptiles, mammals, apes, and men. It 
is certain that, from the first we know of man, he has 
progressed. It is certain, also, that the organization of 
the phreno-nervous system of man indicates a progres- 
sion from vegetation to humanity, through every stage 
and degree of animal intelligence. The Deity, in ere- 



64 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

ating man. has left the prints of his fingers upon every 
part of his nervous system ; indicating that he is no ex- 
ception to the rest of his works, but that, even in creating 
the human mind, the lowest powers were made first, 
and adapted to the primitive condition of things; and 
that new additions were made to the mind, as new diffi- 
culties were created for it to surmount. 

Let us now proceed to contemplate the architecture of 
the brain, — 

" The dome of thought, the temple of the mind." 



SECTION IX. — THE PHRENE, OR CENTRAL CON- 
SCIOUSNESS. 

It should be understood that, according to my peculiar 
system of phreno-philosophy, the brain is not considered 
as the organ of mind. Mind, or consciousness, is exclu- 
sively confined to the medulla oblongata; and the real 
office of the brain and phreno organs is to produce vol- 
untary muscular movements, by transmitting impulses 
to the various muscles in a telegraphic manner. Each 
phreno organ produces a motion of the muscles peculiar 
to itself; and, in sending its influence down to the mus- 
cles, each phreno organ rouses the mind to a state of 
consciousness. The state of consciousness produced by 
each phreno organ is different from that produced by any 
other : thus, hunger is produced by Alimentiveness, pain 
by Sanativeness, fear by Cautiousness, reverence by Sub- 
missiveness, wonder by Credenciveness, pity by Kindness ; 
thus, also, flavor, color, and sound are mere states of 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 65 

mind, produced by impressions which perceptive organs 
make upon the oblongata, where the mind resides. The 
fibres of the brain all converge from the circumference 
near the skull to a common centre in the oblongata ; and 
from that same centre the principal nerves and the spinal 
chord proceed to the body and face, to convey the impulses 
from the phreno fibres. It will be seen, then, that the 
mind does not occupy the brain, as has been hitherto 
supposed, but is situated in an advantageous position, — 
a narrow strait, — where it can command the whole pas- 
sage; so that no impulse from the brain can pass through 
to the body or face, without the mind receiving notice of 
it, and telegraphing up to all the phreno organs, receiv- 
ing in return their sanction or their opposition; and 
if there is more phreno force in favor of the movement 
than against it, the impulse is permitted to proceed along 
the motor nerves to the muscles, causing them to contract 
and produce speech, smiles, frowns, blows, or any other 
actions which the leading impulse requires. 

For a more particular explanation, I refer to my work 
on the Philosophy of Mesmerism, and also to page 87 
of the Compend of Phreno-Philosophy. The fibres of 
the brain are denominated inter-phreno senses, or inter- 
phreno fibres, because their office is to convey impressions 
to and from the mind. The doctrine taught by all phre- 
nological authors, before I published my Phreno-Philos- 
ophy, in 1845, was, that thought and feeling were per- 
formed by the brain itself; and that, instead of there 
being one central organ of mind for a sensorium, each 
organ of the brain had in itself the power of feeling, 
thought, or consciousness. It seems to me that the truth 



66 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

as vvell as the beauty of my phreno-ceutral theory will 
be so apparent, as to render it acceptable, not only to 
phrenological students, but even to those metaphysical 
philosophers who have hitherto regarded phrenology as 
erude and imperfect, for want of that very unity of plan 
which this system establishes. 




In. the annexed engraving, the fibres of the brain are 
represented as proceeding from the convolutions at the 
surface of the brain, and all converging to a point at c, 
where consciousness is presumed to be located. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 67 



SECTION X. — ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION OF THE 
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN. 

I shall now proceed to an inquiry concerning the 
origin of the phreno-organs, and the circumstances which 
rendered their creation necessary, in the precise order in 
which they are arranged in the engraving of the bust. 

On the side of the head, from I. to XII., are arranged 
the organs which impel to self-relative actions only ; they 
are denominated Ipseals. On the back and top of the 
head are arranged the organs which impel to acts which 
tend to establish, govern, and perfect society ; they are 
denominated Socials. Both ipseal and social organs are 
arranged in the engraving in the same order as that in 
which they were successively created, the socials com- 
mencing with 1st, on the lower back of the head, and 
extending over the crown to the upper front. 

In the directive class, which occupy the forehead, there 
is not the same evidence of regular geological succession 
as in the other two classes of organs, and the reason is, 
that the directives, being the mere agents of the impulsive 
organs, were developed as the impulsives needed them. 
The very first animals needed the six lowest perceptive 
organs, which are situated on the lower and central part 
of the forehead. Order was probably not needed till 
cold weather rendered Constructiveness necessary. The 
reflective organs must have existed in a very slight 
degree, if they existed at all, before the tertiary period 
introduced Acquisitiveness and Experimentiveness. 

The earliest animals possessed three ipseals, one social, 
and six directives. We shall find, as we proceed in our 



68 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

investigation, that the ipseals received four more addi- 
tional organs before the socials or the directives received 
any further accessions. But when Constructiveness was 
created, then Order was added to the directives, and 
Parentiveness to the socials. When Experimentiveness 
commenced in the ipseals, then nearly all the socials, 
except 12th, must have sprung into existence in rapid 
succession, together with the higher directives. 

I would most earnestly request the critical reader to 
study carefully the order 'of arrangement in the engrav- 
ing of the bust in connection with the following sections 
concerning the origin of the organs. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 



69 



ORDER OF THE GEO- 


COTEMPORANEOUS 


COTEMPORANEOUS 


COTEMPO. 
PHRENO- 


LOGICAL PERIODS. 


PHRENO-ORGANS. 


PHRENO-ORGANS. 


ORGANS. 




Ipseals. 


Socials. 


Directives. 


Protozoic or Cam- 


I. Pneumativeness. 


1st. Amativeness. 


Lowest 


brian, 


II. Alimentiveness. 




and most 


In which the first 


III. Sanativeness. 




central 


animals existed. 






parts of 
the fore- 


Silurian, 






head. 


In which the first 


IV. Destructiveness. 






fishes existed. 


V. Combativeness. 






Carboniferous. 


VI. Secretiveness. 

VII. Cautiousness. 






Saliferous. 




2d. Parentiveness. 




Tracks of reptiles, 




3d.Inhabitiveness. 




and birds with 




4th. Adhesiveness. 




web feet. 








Oolitic. 








First mammals, 


VIII. Constructiveness. 


5th. Imperative. 


Reflective 


but of the lowest 




6th. Approbative. 




kind. 




7th. Firmness. 
8th. Justice. 


organs 


Cretaceous. 




9th. Submissive. 


continue 


First of the pres- 








ent fishes. 




10th. Kindness. 


to expand 


Tertiary. 


IX. Acquisitiveness. 




until the 




X. Experimentiveness. 


11th. Imitative. 




Monkeys. 






present 


Orangs. 


XL Perfectiveness. 




time. 




XII. Hope. 


12th. Credencive. 






The three 


The last 




Prehistoric. 


last organs 


organ 




Negroes. 


continue 


continues to 




Whites. 


to expand. 


expand. 





70 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

NEW CLASSIFICATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PHRENO 
ORGANS. 

I. IPSEALS. 

These are arranged in five ranges on the side of the 
head. 

l. CORPOREAL RANGE. 

I. Pneumativeness — the impulse to breathe and to 

obtain good air. 

II. Alimentiveness — the impulse to eat. 

III. Sanativeness — the impulse to preserve health, 
avoid injuries, and obtain personal comfort. 

2. BELLIGERENT RANGE. 

IY. Destructiveness — impulse to kill for food, or for 

any other purpose which we deem necessary. 
V. Combativeness — impulse to fight, to contend, to 
contradict, to resist. 

3. PRUDENTIAL RANGE. 

YI. Secretiveness — impulse to conceal, to act in a cir- 
cuitous and indirect manner. 

VII. Cautiousness — impulse to look forward and an- 
ticipate danger. 

4. INDUSTRIAL RANGE. 

VIII. Constructiveness — impulse to engage in mechani- 
cal operations. With the assistance of the Di- 
rective organs this impulse bestows skill, but not 
without. 
IX Acquisitiveness — impulse to acquire, to economize, 
and store up property for future use. In igno- 
rant persons, with weak powers, it tends to 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 71 

produce a mean, miserly, penurious character. 
With great vigor, in ignorant persons, it tends to 
produce a grasping, avaricious character. In a 
cultivated mind it produces honorable and pru- 
dent desires and exertions to acquire property. 

5. IMPROVING RANGE. 

X Ezperimentiveness or Mirthfulness — an organ 
which all phrenologists admit, but concerning 
the uses of which they are not agreed. I con- 
sider it the impulse to try novel experiments, 
either in sport or in earnest endeavors to accom- 
plish some desirable object. 
XL Perfectiveness or Ideality — the impulse to do 
things in the most perfect manner known, and 
if possible to improve, so as to excel all similar 
performances : it gives good taste and a desire 
for self-improvement. Those who have it small 
are indifferent to self-education and improvement. 
XII. Hope or Migrativeness — the impulse to abandon 
home and present enjoyments, and look with 
confidence to the future and the distant for hap- 
piness and success. 

II. SOCIALS. 

These are divided into three groups, and extend from 
the back of the neck to the forehead. 

l. GROUP THAT ESTABLISH SOCIETY. 

1st. Amativeness — impulse to become intimate with 
the opposite sex. In well regulated minds it tends 
to virtuous love and matrimony; in vicious minds 
it tends to licentiousness. 



72 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

2d. Parentiveness or Philoprogenitiveness — impulse 
to protect and cherish the young and helpless. 

3d. Inkabitiveness or Concentrativeness — impulse to 
remain in one place, and concentrate the ideas, 
the affections, and the domestic comforts in as 
small a circle as practicable, and not to wander 
or change residence, nor employment, nor topics 
of thought or conversation. 
4th. Adhesiveness — impulse to cling with filial fond- 
ness to parents when young ; and to form strong 
attachments to companions and friends, to the 
exclusion of strangers. 

2. GROUP THAT GOVERN SOCIETY. 

5th. Imperativeness or Self -esteem — impulse to take the 
lead in society, and to act independently, with- 
out reference to the wishes of others ; in igno- 
rance it produces pride and self-conceit. 

6th. Approbativeness — impulse to please those who 
have influence, power, applause, or anything 
else which we wish ; gives the love of compli- 
ments, of fame and glory. In a weak mind it 
produces vanity and a love of foolish display. 

7th. Firmness — impulse to maintain any opinion, 
authority, or position ; to resist social influences, 
and continue a consistent course of conduct. In 
ignorance, it tends to stubbornness. 

8th. Conscientiousness or Justice — impulse to deal 
impartially and honestly. This organ alone will 
not bestow honesty, nor give a proper idea of 
what is right or wrong, unless the person is well 
instructed and trained in regard to moral duty. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 73 

8. GROUP THAT CONFORM TO SOCIETY. 

9th. Submissiveness or Veneration — impulse to sub- 
mit to superiors in power, or age, or position, — 
to treat people respectfully. In ignorance it 
produces slavery and idolatry. 

10th. Kindness or Benevolence — to treat every one — 
strangers and even animals — with kindness. 

11th. Imitativeness — impulse to adopt the habits, man- 
ners, language, and peculiarities of associates, 
and to learn their characters. 

12th. Credenciveness — impulse to act on the testimony 
of others, to believe the assertions of others when 
they probably know better than ourselves. In 
ignorance, and when the organ is very large, it 
tends to the greatest extravagances and super- 
stitions, delights in exaggerations, and spurns 
the simple and unembellished truth. When 
small, there is a disposition to require more 
and surer evidence than common people deem 
necessary. 

III. DIRECTIVES OR INTELLECTUALS, 

That occupy the forehead. 

1. Flavor — which bestows skill in cooking, and nice 

discrimination in food and drink. 

2. Observation of the forms, sizes and outlines of ob- 

jects. Phrenologians generally divide this part, 
where the nose unites with the forehead, into 
three organs, namely, Individuality, Form, and 
Size ; but, after more than twelve years' experi- 
ence, I can only say that those who are large at 



74 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

this part are generally skilful in the observation 
of general appearances and facts of common 
occurrence. 

3. Direction or Locality gives the ability to know and 

remember the points of the compass and the di- 
rection of objects, and tends to make a good pilot. 

4. Weight gives skill in wielding mechanical or musi- 

cal instruments with precision and delicacy. 

5. Eventuality gives memory and ability in the details 

of narrative, anecdotes, and history, and, com- 
bined with memory of words, and with Com- 
parison, gives literary ability. 

6. Words or Language, memory of sounds and words y 

and those verbal matters necessary in literature. 

7. Color gives skill in the coloring of paintings, and 

good taste in matters relating to various shades 
of color. 

8. Order gives skill and neatness in arrangements, 

and the ability to be precise and methodical. 

9. Number gives skill in arithmetical calculations. 

10. Time, a doubtful organ, which is supposed to give 

skill in chronology, and precision in marching 
and music. 

11. Tune, a doubtful organ, which, in my opinion, 

merely gives the impulse to perform music, while 
other faculties bestow the skill. 

12. Comparison gives the power to analyze, to class, 

to discriminate and distinguish slight differences 
and resemblances, and is the foundation of the 
talent for rhetoric and figurative expressions. 

13. Causality gives the ability to combine, connect, and 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 75 

systematize ; with cultivation it gives talent to 
invent original and philosophic plans ; and it also 
gives profound judgment and deep knowledge, 
provided it is well supported by other organs. 



SECTION XL— ORIGIN OF THE IPSEALS. 

There are at least twelve ipseal organs discovered and 
admitted, including Pneumativeness and Sanativeness. 
They are all situated on the side of the head. The first 
animal that lived on earth needed but three of them, 
namely, Pneumativeness, Alimentiveness, and Sanative- 
ness. These organs are so situated in the human head, 
as to give width and fulness to that part which is imme- 
diately above and before the ear. They are called the 
Corporeal Ipseals, because they are related to the body, 
and impel the animal to make exertions to supply his 
immediate bodily wants. Of course, no animal could 
exist without them. 

I do not at present propose to show the origin of the 
very lowest organs of the brain, for the argument which 
I am pursuing does not require it ; but, the lower organs 
being given, I propose to show that the higher organs 
grew out of them, as necessary modifications, produced 
by the circumstances in which the animal was placed. 
I shall, therefore, remark very briefly upon the three 
corporeal organs, in order that what follows concerning 
the other organs may be the better understood. 

I. Origin of Pneumativeness. — The author of these 
pages first called the attention of phrenologians to the 



76 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

anterior portion of the middle lobe of the brain, as con- 
nected with the tendency to make voluntary exertions to 
breathe, and denominated it Pneumativeness. If we 
admit this organ to exist, we must consider it as of such 
a nature that no animal could possibly live a moment 
without it, since all their motions depend upon oxygen. 
In all climates, and under any circumstances in which 
animals have ever existed, they must have been supplied 
with a greater or less quantity of oxygen. This organ 
cannot be said to be indebted to cold for its original cre- 
ation, except so far as the cooling of the earth and the 
purification of the atmosphere were necessary to render 
animal life possible in the earliest geologic ages. Breath- 
ing is the first function of animal life, and its cerebral 
organ is the first in the order of the ipseal arrangement. 
The first vertebrated animals inhabited the water, and 
breathed with gills the air that the water held in solu- 
tion. Then the reptiles inhabited the muddy and low 
swamps upon the shores of islands but little elevated 
above the surface of the surrounding ocean. These first 
breathed air unmixed with the watery fluid. The birds 
had large and perfect apparatuses for breathing. This 
was the natural consequence of their mode of locomo- 
tion. Among quadrupeds, their perfection and energy 
have always been in exact proportion to the perfection of 
their respiratory apparatuses ; and the colder the region 
which they occupy, the more they are dependent upon 
respiration to produce warmth and resist the effects of 
the cold. 

II. Origin of Alirnentiveness. — If we study the mat- 
ter carefully, we shall find that all the organs of the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 77 

brain are indirectly related to nutrition ; though, in some 
instances, the relation is apparently so remote and dis- 
guised, as to escape the notice of the ordinary investi- 
gator. The only true method of acquiring a knowledge 
of the functions of the brain is, by considering the base 
of the front, the base of the middle, and the base of the 
posterior part, as needed by the first animals, and then 
looking upon all the other parts as superadded to these 
three; just as three trees are developed above their 
roots. 

III. Origin of Sanativeness. — The author of this 
treatise was so fortunate as to be the first to point out a 
portion of the brain which is concerned in producing 
pain when any part of the body is injured. The nerves 
which convey the impressions of pain are, in all animals, 
most numerously distributed over those parts which are 
most exposed to injuries; and I have no doubt that inju- 
ries were the original sub-creators of this organ, and of 
the nerves which send it impressions of pain. But it is 
not necessary to extend my remarks upon an organ 
which all animals seem to possess in some degree. 

IY. Origin of Destructiveness. — It is easy to under- 
stand that an animal might be so situated as to need no 
phreno organs but those that relate immediately to res- 
piration, nutrition, organic protection, and reproduction. 
This would be the case if the animal lived in a climate 
unchangeably hot, surrounded continually by abundance 
of vegetable food, exactly suited to its taste and nourish- 
ment, — enjoying the company of other animals of its 
own species, of both sexes, and all similarly supplied. 
Phrenology and geology agree in teaching that this was 



78 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

actually the condition of some of our predecessors. The 
animal, being surrounded by all that it needed, had only 
to breathe and eat, and enjoy existence in security and 
ease. What use would destructiveness or combativeness 
be to him ? Why should he care for the future ? Why 
guard against enemies, if none existed ? Why store up 
provisions, build houses, or make clothes ? Why exert 
his powers to invent new modes of acquiring a compe- 
tence? Why migrate to new regions? Surrounding 
nature supplied all his wants, and anticipated his wishes. 
He lived beneath a burning sky ; but his blood was so 
constituted then, as in some reptiles now, as to exactly 
adapt him to be happy in its refulgent beams, and make 
him rejoice in its scorching glory. He slept beneath the 
protection of the gigantic fern, and awoke to experience 
enjoyment which ended only with existence, and which 
consisted in corporeal gratification alone. He lived 
peaceably, amid beings like himself, that had no cause 
of contention ; "his food the primal plants, his drink the 
crystal stream, his couch the verdant banks of earth, his 
canopy the star-lit sky." He had not yet been driven to 
the necessity of eating flesh, for vegetables had always 
been abundant. Why, then, should he kill any animal? 
There was no winter to apprehend in future ; no cold to 
annoy at present : to-day was full of luxurious enjoy- 
ment ; to-morrow was rich in promise. The same boun- 
tiful hand that fed himself nourished and protected his 
offspring also. He had no personal fears, no parental 
cares, and no social nor political responsibilities. He 
had no enemies, and no cause of enmity. He had no 
friends, for he needed none ; and he owed no duty to 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 79 

posterity but to increase its numbers. Such was, doubt- 
less, the condition of our earliest progenitors ; and such 
must necessarily have been our present condition, if food 
and climate had remained unchanged in quantity and 
quality. 

Phrenology points to the fact that, after the creation 
of the three bodily phreno powers, the next developed 
organ is Destructiveness ; that it is a continuation of ali- 
mentiveness, — superadded to it, apparently, to modify 
its operations. It is interesting to revert back to the 
time, and endeavor to imagine the circumstances under 
which this terrible organ came into existence. Animals 
must have been produced, at first, in immense numbers; 
so that, without any diminution of vegetation, the sup- 
ply must soon have been less than the demand. Fam- 
ishing animals, with peaceful and innocent dispositions, 
must have met, at first, and divided the vegetable food 
which nature yielded within their reach, without at- 
tempting to rob or to injure each other. Multitudes died 
of starvation. The survivors fed with much reluctance 
upon the carcasses of the unresisting dead, and thus first 
acquired a taste for flesh. The next step was to feed 
upon those who were too weak to resist. Then it was 
that oppression began its reign. Then was enacted the 
dreadful law, that might is the evidence of right; and 
the organs of Destructiveness and Combativeness were 
created, and commissioned to put the law into execution. 
The taste for blood, the habit of eating flesh, acquired 
in a slight degree in one generation, is transmitted to the 
next, and increased by continuation of practice. The 
third and fourth generations have it in a still higher de- 



80 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

gree ; and thus, in the course of ages, the whole organi- 
zation becomes changed, to adapt it to the nature of the 
food. The claws become formed to seize animals, the 
teeth to tear them, and the stomach to digest their flesh. 
The brain also changes in its form, receiving an addition, 
denominated Destructiveness, which in man impels to 
destruction in general, but which originally related to 
food only. Geology abounds with evidence that destruc- 
tive races of animals uniformly succeeded the races of 
vegetable eaters; and every great class of animals is 
susceptible of being subdivided into two classes, founded 
upon their habits of eating vegetable or animal food. 
Thus, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals, can each be 
divided into the carnivorous and herbivorous. The first 
created animals must have fed upon vegetables ; for, in 
the first place, if they had fed upon each other, they 
would soon have been extinct ; and, in the second place, 
it is a well established fact in physiology, that the organ- 
ization of all animals is composed of elements formed by 
vegetation : in other words, animals are formed from vege- 
tables, — composed of vegetable substances. Oxygen, 
hydrogen, and carbon, must go through certain processes 
in plants, before they can enter into the constitution of 
any animal. 

V. Origin of Combativeness. — In the same way that 
Destructiveness is a modification of Alimentiveness, so 
also is Combativeness a modification of Destructiveness, 
and a posterior addition to it. A glance at the convolu- 
tions of the brain renders this manifest. Combativeness 
differs from Destructiveness in being aimed at possession 
merely. When two animals meet, and both aim to pos- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 81 

sess the same object, whether it be prey or any other 
gratification, a contest ensues ; the aim of which is, not 
th3 destruction of each other, but the exclusive enjoy- 
ment or possession of the object of contention. This be- 
ing so, the defeated party is not necessarily pursued and 
destroyed, but is merely conquered into a peaceable 
mood, and forced to acknowledge the supremacy of its 
conqueror. These contests take place among animals 
of the same race, and even the same family. Animals 
that never feed upon flesh are often exceedingly conten- 
tious, especially when instigated by amorous jealousy. 

We have now five self-relative impulsives developed 
in the inhabitants of the earth. By the addition of the 
last two, the world has been changed into a scene of de- 
structive carnage and contention. Whole tribes of inno- 
cent and unoffending creatures have been doomed to 
death, to save other tribes from starvation. Many ani- 
mals, when Destructiveness began its bloody career, were 
doubtless destroyed without resistance : they had not yet 
learned to avoid enemies, nor to resist them ; experience 
had not yet taught them to dread any fellow-being. In- 
nocent themselves, they suspected nothing dangerous in 
others. They made no attempt to escape, but allowed 
themselves to be devoured without a struggle. When 
food grew still more scarce, the carnivorous animals must 
have contended with each other for the possession of 
their common prey. This would lead to that modifica- 
tion of Destructiveness which we call Combativeness; 
an impulse to fight for possession, instead of an impulse 
to kill and eat, which Destructiveness originally was. 
In the brain we find the convolution of Alimentiveness 



S2 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

continued to constitute Destructiveness, and tlun De- 
structiveness continued to constitute Combativeness. 

VI. Origin of Secretiveness. — Those animals which 
were partly carnivorous and partly herbivorous, would 
Know by their own experience what a powerful fero- 
cious animal intended when he made his appearance 
among them. They would, therefore, endeavor to escape 
destruction, either by concealment or flight. On the 
other hand, the superior animal, seeing his prey escape, 
and finding that when he came near without being 
discovered he was more frequently successful, very 
naturally endeavored to surprise them by unexpected 
approaches. This practice produced a peculiar modifi- 
cation of Alimentiveness and Destructiveness. That 
Secretiveness is a peculiar modification of these organs, 
is evident, not only from its auxiliary character, but from 
its position, — immediately superimposed upon Destruc- 
tiveness, its front part connected with Alimentiveness. 
It is large in many carnivorous animals ; the cat, fox, 
and owl, for instance. They make much use of Se- 
cretiveness, as an auxiliary of Destructiveness ; indeed, 
they could not often seize their prey without its aid. 
Animals of inferior strength or speed, being unable to 
contend with their enemies, would avoid them by con- 
cealment. Natural history is full of interesting illustra- 
tions of the modes in which this power is useful to 
animals; but, in all cases, it has reference to obtaining 
animal food, or of avoiding destruction. Such an organ 
would have been unnecessary before Destructiveness 
existed ; but it became indispensable afterwards. 

VII. Origin of Cautiousness. — The carnivorous sys- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 83 

tern of "treasons, stratagems, and spoils," would expose 
animals, especially the weak, to continual danger. They 
would hear the footsteps of Destruction afar off: catch 
the alarming sound of his voice in the distance ■ smell 
their enemy in the passing breeze, and expect to see 
him spring upon them from behind every bush. Such 
a state of things is certainly sufficient to account for the 
creation and development of a modification of Secretive- 
ness and Combativeness, at its upper back part, which 
is phrenologically denominated Cautiousness or Watch- 
fulness. It is the " look-out" organ. When first dis- 
covered, it was, not very erroneously, denominated "the 
organ of foresight." It is especially necessary to those 
who are surrounded by clanger, which, though not now 
present to the senses, may nevertheless be upon them in 
a moment, with very little warning. It is accordingly 
most developed in those animals and those men that are 
timid, apprehensive, irresolute, and disposed to take 
every precaution, and restrain every dangerous impulse, 
to prevent future trouble and danger. 

Even in this stage of the world's progress which we 
are now contemplating, there were, phrenologically, sev- 
eral classes of animals in existence. First, there were 
the perfectly innocent and unsuspecting animals, — 
guileless, harmless, fearless ; then the destructive carniv- 
orous animals, that resorted to no strategy, but looked 
around, discovered their prey, pursued it directly, seized 
it, and devoured it ; then the wary and cunning animal, 
that gained the same object by means more complicated 
and intellectual; and then, also, the prudent, timid, 
watchful creature, that avoided all destructive contests, 



84 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






and used no animal food, yet lived in constant appre* 
hension of destruction from powerful and artful animals 
of carnivorous appetites. 

VIII. Origin of Constructiveness. — If we consider the 
nature of this organ, and the circumstances which gen- 
erally call it into action, we conclude that, whatever 
good fortune other animals may have enjoyed, our pro- 
genitors were destined to be persecuted by cold. It is, 
however, a consolation to know that what they had ap- 
parent reason to deem a misfortune, was in reality a very 
great blessing to their offspring. They must, at this 
period, have been placed in some insular situation, from 
whence it was not practicable for them to migrate, or 
they would not have submitted to such labor and incon- 
venience; for, if they could have found their way to 
more southern climes, where the effects of winter had 
not yet been felt, they would have had no need of addi- 
tional powers of mind to enable them to sustain their 
existence. Constructiveness, in a torrid region, would 
be almost useless. But it was fortunately and provi- 
dentially ordered that they should be placed, at this time, 
in a situation where the changes of the seasons could 
produce corresponding changes in their characters and 
structures. Fruits were no longer produced at all seasons 
of the year. Winters became longer, and more and more 
severe. Shelter became necessary, not only for them- 
selves, but also for their young and tender offspring. 
Dens were resorted to; then holes were burrowed in 
the ground ; then trees and bushes were used to protect 
and hide them from chilling storms and inclement weath- 
er. These circumstances caused a superaddition to Se- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 85 

cretiveness; for their dens were at once places of conceal- 
ment from enemies, and protection from cold. We find 
the organ of Constructiveness developed immediately 
above and upon the front part of Secretiveness, [see the 
engraving of the bust;] and this fact is in harmony 
with the other circumstances which indicate that it was 
primitively a modification of that organ. It is a mode 
of concealment when we use Constructiveness to cover 
our limbs with clothing, and when we construct hiding- 
places for our bodies. Were it not for the life-devouring 
cold, we should not need Constructiveness, neither for 
clothing nor shelter ; it could, therefore, only be devel- 
oped in a comparatively cold climate. It is small in the 
African and New Hollander, while in the Caucasian it 
is large. Beavers manifest this power more perfectly 
than any other mammals, except man; and they are 
seldom found, in this country, south of 40° north latitude. 

This organ, doubtless, commenced cotemporaneously 
with winter. If before that time it was manifested, in a 
slight, rudimental manner, it must have been excited by 
the necessities of animals engaged in offensive or defen- 
sive war, or in shaping their food to enable them to 
swallow it ; but this scarcely deserves to be called by 
the name of Constructiveness. If we consider that mam- 
mals were created during the oolitic period, and that the 
mammae were rendered necessary by coldness of climate, 
we shall perceive the probability that the rudiments of 
Constructiveness were created at the same period; though 
the organization of the first animals does not indicate 
Constructiveness till the eocene period. 

IX. Origin of Acquisitiveness. — The protection af- 



86 PHREN0-(iE0L0GY. 

forded by Constructiveness would prevent the animal 
from perishing during short periods of cold; but, as 
winters became longer, vegetation would be entirely sus- 
pended, so that starvation would threaten him, even in 
his comfortable hiding-place. Fruits, and such other 
food as our progenitors were accustomed to use, could 
not be found during winter ; it must be stored up during 
the season of plenty, or suffering and death must ensue. 
It was the opinion of Cuvier, that man originally fed on 
fruits. Nothing but cold could render it necessary for 
animals to lay up fruits for future use. Accordingly, we 
find that all the animals which are now most remarkable 
for their prudence in this respect, are inhabitants of cold 
climates. Beavers are wonderfully sagacious and skilful 
in planning and constructing their storehouses, and gath- 
ering a supply of provisions for consumption during the 
long winter which reigns in their native regions. Their 
whole organization and habits, and the nature of their 
food, all indicate that they are fitted to live in a cold 
country. They could not exist in any other, and con- 
tinue to be beavers. It was, in fact, the cold which, un- 
der Providence, created their organization of brain, and 
teeth, and claws. Let a race of beavers live a hundred 
thousand years in a torrid clime, and they would unques- 
tionably change again to some other kind of animal, of 
a less provident and industrious character. 

The probability is, that our progenitors, at the time that 
the organ of Acquisitiveness was first started into exist- 
ence, were in an isolated situation. Perhaps they inhab- 
ited an island near the polar region, so far from other 
lands that they could not escape to a more southern lat- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 87 

itude. They were thus compelled to submit to the 
changes which the polar climate forced upon them. 
When their constructive and acquisitive organization 
and habits were once formed, it would in turn operate 
to prevent them from migrating when they did have an 
opportunity; for only amid their native streams and for- 
ests could they find the means of gratifying the peculiar 
faculties which the surrounding scenery, and food, and 
climate, had conspired to produce. 

The organ of Acquisitiveness is a part of the brain 
growing directly upon and out of the organ of Construc- 
tiveness. It is thus no small confirmation of these views, 
that each successive organ is a superaddition, an off- 
shoot from the preceding organ. The very powers which 
the animal successively needed, are actually the very 
ones which are developed, one upon the other, and the 
next upon that, and so on, from the lowest to the high- 
est. It should be particularly noticed, that the arrange- 
ment of the ipseal organs, which is thus found to be in 
such beautiful harmony with geology, was discovered 
and published, by the author of these pages, more than 
ten years ago, and long before this application of them 
to geology was thought of. This affords strong presump- 
tive evidence of the truthfulness, both of the arrange- 
ment, and also of the geological theory by which their 
successive development is accounted for. Every truth 
harmonizes with every other, in whatever part of the 
universe it is found; and falsehood finds an enemy in 
every part of nature. 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE IMPROVING RANGE OF 
IPSEALS. 

The organs of this range are of a much higher and 
more comprehensive character than of the others, and 
they relate to operations which imply a greater amount 
and extent of knowledge. 

The functions which they perform are not as definitely 
settled as those of the lower organs, and there has been 
much more difference among phrenologists concerning 
them. One reason of this is, that the nature of these 
organs, and their sphere of action, are not as limited and 
definite, nor the objects that excite them as tangible and 
obvious. 

These organs are modifiers of the action of the lower 
organs. They tend to the same objects as the lower 
organs by new, improved, and more complicated means. 
They require the auxiliary aid of the reflectives to a 
greater degree than the lower organs, and they also 
naturally tend to combine in action with the higher 
socials, especially Credenciveness and Imitativeness. It 
is this general nature of these organs, their high aim and 
extensive connections, that has caused their real func- 
tion to be often mistaken. 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON EXPERIMENTIVENESS, WIT, OR 
MIRTHFULNESS. 

This organ, when first discovered, was called Wit ; 
then it was called Mirthfulness, by Spurzheim. By some 
of the Scotch phrenologians it was considered as a per- 
ception of incongruity; by some others, the perception 
of difference. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 89 

In my new system of Phrenology, in 1839, I advanced 
the opinion that it is the organ of Playfulness, and that 
it impels the young to sport. This was the opinion, 
also, of Brousais, and of Vimont. Notwithstanding this 
difference of opinion as to the nature of this organ, it will 
be observed that phrenologians do not disagree in respect 
to the facts observed, but only concerning the inferences 
drawn from those facts. 

My present opinion is, that it is the experimenting 
impulse, and gives the love of novelty, of new modes 
adapted to new circumstances, and new things, new prac- 
tices, and untried expedients. I consider this its primitive 
function ; but I admit that it is one of the elements of 
Play, and Wit, and Mirthfulness. Much of what is 
commonly called play, is an idolatrous manifestation of 
this organ. It is a sort of experimental exercise of the 
various powers during leisure. Watch the sports of the 
young. Are not their mimic performances mere experi- 
mental tests and trials of their powers, to which they are 
prompted by the Pneumative-mercurial impulse, to do 
something to get rid of the excess of oxygen in the blood? 
Having nothing serious which demands attention, they 
exercise their powers in playful experiments, which have 
a tendency to qualify them for future usefulness. I 
consider wit as an experimental mode of exercising the 
intellect in leisure. A brain spontaneously active during 
leisure, is apt to take on an experimental mode of action ; 
this is sport, play, wit. Combined with Constructiveness, 
this organ gives the tendency to make mechanical exper- 
iments, and try new modes of operating machines. It is 
large in all great experimental mechanics and philos- 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



ophers, — Perkins, Watt. Cuvier, Davy, Newton, and 
Franklin. It is small in practical conservatives, — those 
who are slaves and creatures of imitation and habit, and 
averse to all changes. In youth and leisure this power 
is manifested in sport ; in mature and earnest operations 
it is manifested in experiments which aim at saving 
labor and trouble, by adopting novel methods of proceed- 
ing, such as peculiar circumstances require. When in 
excess, it despises steady, continuous labor in the beaten 
track, and longs for variety. 

X. Origin of Experimsntiveness. — This organ origi- 
nated, like all the others, in times of trouble, when 
no other existing powers would enable the animal to 
preserve and enjoy his existence by ordinary modes of 
operation. There is a great difference among animals, 
in regard to their ingenuity and ready wit, when placed 
in embarrassing circumstances that require them to act 
in a way in which they never acted before. A goose 
could not escape from a prison from which a fox would 
soon find his way, carrying the goose with him. We 
occasionally see a cow that can unfasten a gate, a cat 
that can ring a bell, and an elephant that tries a bridge 
carefully before he ventures upon it. We see many 
species of animals, when frequently disturbed in one 
place, resorting to another more secure, and varying 
their proceedings, in some slight degree, as new circum- 
stances require. But this is manifested more decidedly 
as animals rise higher in the scale of intelligence. It 
seems reasonable that when our progenitors could not 
exercise their powers in the old and time-honored method, 
— driven and stimulated by the scarcity of food, the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 91 

prevalence of enemies, or the inclemency of the season, 
— this organ would then be called into existence and 
requisition by the new stimulus of such circumstances. 
One of the most distinguishing traits of humanity is this 
ability to vary and change to suit any new condition or 
change of circumstances. Not only so, it is this, with 
the next higher organ, which distinguishes the highest 
class of men from the lowest. It gives variety to life, 
and breaks up the monotony which is so delightful to 
the stupid and plodding followers of the past. We 
always find it manifested in the highest degree in the 
rough regions where it is most necessary : Switzerland, 
Scotland, Old and New England, and northern France 
and Germany. But we see little of its beneficial result 
in the south of Asia, Africa, or America. We find it no- 
where but where necessity demands it. 

XI. Origin of Perfectiveness, or Ideality. — This is 
the impulse to improve and perfect, — to beautify and 
adorn. Before the organ of Perfectiveness was devel- 
oped, man — if he could be called man — must have 
been inferior to the modern chimpanzee (the most in- 
telligent of apes) in point of intelligence. For although 
this organ does not directly acquire knowledge, it accom- 
panies reflection, and directs it to higher and more com- 
prehensive views, and thus it elevates the character in 
every respect. It was probably produced originally in 
a country where nature's productions were various and 
beautiful, but where food was not abundant without 
labor, and where society was in large communities. 
That Perfectiveness was produced when communities 
were large and crowded, and society nearly perfected, is 



92 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

proved by the fact that it is one of the highest ipseal 
organs, and borders upon Credenciveness, the highest 
social organ. They (Credenciveness and Perfectiveness) 
were undoubtedly produced simultaneously, under the 
same circumstances. Society must then have been com- 
plicated ; its members must have been able to converse 
with each other, and transmit their conversations to pos- 
terity by memory and tradition ; for I suppose writing, 
even by hieroglyphics, was then unknown. The higher 
ipseals appear to be, in some respects, dependent upon 
the socials for their perfection. In functions they are 
intimately associated, like two vines beautifully inter- 
woven and closely entwined around each other, yet each 
perfectly distinct from the other, and capable of a separ- 
ate existence. The complicated state of society would 
produce many occasions for the exercise of skill and in- 
genuity, to enable all to enjoy equally the benefits which 
the community afforded. The expressions of applause 
or preference, which others would make, would lead to 
renewed efforts to excel, and the excellence of one would 
lead to imitation by another, until the excellence would 
be general. 

The attachments of society, — its advantages, its pleas- 
ures, its wants, its increasing numbers, and consequent 
necessities, — would bring on frequent critical occasions 
and crises, which would lead to improving efforts. In 
some cases it would happen that (as in Ireland now) 
some must die from want, or immigrate, or else, by some 
ingenious contrivance, must improve the methods of 
economizing, of producing, of pleasing the powerful, or 
in some way rendering themselves useful, that thus they 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 93 

might be permitted and enabled to exist, to remain in the 
community, and to enjoy its advantages and refinements. 
This state of things would seem to be sufficient to give 
origin to the improving impulse. It was here that mod- 
ern humanity commenced. When improvement became 
an instinct, the elevating process began in earnest. 
Prom mere brutes our ancestors became men, savage and 
barbarous indeed, but yet such men as were capable, by 
another forward movement, of becoming half civilized, 
and laying the foundations of human society as we find 
it represented in our most ancient records ; a wonderful 
structure of usefulness and folly, of superstition, igno- 
rance, genius and stupidity, all entangled and com- 
mingled beyond hope of immediate, or, perhaps, of 
ultimate unravelment; regulated by law, modified by 
accident, and controlled by a mysterious Providence ; its 
existence a wonder, and its destination a problem yet to 
be solved. 

I consider Experimentiveness as a lower species of 
Perfectiveness. Yet there is a distinction between wit 
and poetry; between change and improvement; between 
a new method and the most improved mode of operating 
according to a well-known method. They both, how- 
ever, tend to the same result, which is economy, — the 
economy of living. All the ipseals. if carefully studied, 
aim at the easiest and best mode of sustaining the indi- 
vidual in comfort and happiness. These two organs of 
Experimentiveness and Perfectiveness lead to invention, 
ingenuity, improvement, and the most skilful and perfect 
modes of proceeding and operating in all things. But 
they originated in circumstances of pressing necessity, or 
they would never have existed. 



94 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

It is a maxim that " Necessity is the mother of inven- 
tion ; " and this argument which I am now pursuing is 
but an illustration of its truth. I insist that necessity- 
was the mother, not only of ingenuity, but also of the 
improving disposition and the ability. The whole his- 
tory of man illustrates this. Great men and great 
nations have arisen, like volcanoes, from beneath the 
pressure of a mountain of discouraging circumstances, 
which nothing but the concentrated fires of native genius, 
forced into convulsive action, could possibly have up- 
borne. Take away the necessity of exertion, and the 
exertion itself, its motives and its organs, will gradually 
sink, and, ultimately, disappear entirely. Strike the 
sub-creator from existence, and the creature will be anni- 
hilated also. 

PERFECTIVENESS CONTINUED. ORIGIN OF THE FINE ARTS. 

The incidental and playful action of the organ of 
Perfectiveness has been mistaken by all phrenologians 
for its primitive and essential function. It has been 
supposed to be exclusively related to the fine arts. Now, 
I conceive that the fine arts are but the abnormal and 
morbid manifestations of the higher powers ; perhaps I 
might say that the fine arts are the results of the idola- 
trous and sportive action of Perfectiveness and its com- 
binations. The same powers which were created to 
improve our means of sustaining life, contribute to our 
enjoyment in leisure, by exercising themselves in a 
sportive way, to produce the agreeable merely instead of 
the necessary. The same perceptive organs of Exten- 
sion, Weight, Color, Order, Comparison, Causality, and 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 95 

also the constructive, experimentive, and perfective im- 
pulses, — all those organs, indeed, that are used in com- 
plicated cases of embarrassment, and in troublesome 
times, to extricate the individual from danger and bring 
him necessary enjoyment, — these very same powers, in 
their sportive and idolatrous operations amid leisure and 
luxury, produce the fine arts, poetry, music, sculpture, 
and painting, under the especial promptings of Per- 
fectiveness and Imitativeness. But it would be absurd 
to suppose that the organ of Perfectiveness itself is 
exclusively related to the fine arts. The fine arts them- 
selves never existed in savage communities; yet the 
organ was then active in some degree, supplying the 
stern necessities of humanity. The fine arts are the 
sportive manifestations of the highest powers of man. 
The useful arts spring from the same powers, when 
seriously engaged in struggling with adversity. 

The organ of Perfectiveness grows out of the top of 
Constructiveness, and is, doubtless, a modification of it, 
and more intimately related to it than to any other organ. 
Experimental and mechanical philosophy and the fine 
arts are the results of this combination, — this modifi- 
cation of Constructiveness by Experimentiveness and 
Perfectiveness. 

ORIGIN OF THE USEFUL ARTS. 

All animated nature teaches the truth that the natural 
progress is from vegetable to animal food. The number 
of vegetable-eating animals is necessarily limited by the 
quantity of vegetation to be obtained. When that limit 
is reached the stronger animal necessarily becomes car- 



96 PHRENO- GEOLOGY. 

nivorous, and puts on the character of a hunter. In a 
few generations the organization of the hunter becomes 
adapted to the change in his mode of obtaining food. The 
change becomes so great, as to render animal food neces- 
sary to the enjoyment of happiness. Man is no exception 
to this law, and, like all other flesh-eating animals, he 
has undergone this change. The first art which man in 
primeval times was forced to acquire, was the art of seiz- 
ing his prey, — hunting and fishing. Animals that were 
too weak to prey upon others, and too numerous to live 
on the vegetables within their reach, perished. The 
difficulty sometimes arose, not so much from the 
excessive number of the animals to be fed, as from the 
severity of winter temporarily cutting off the whole sup- 
ply. This condition of things gave origin to the arts of 
construction and storing, as a means of avoiding starva- 
tion, by preserving vegetable food for winter. No animal 
but man has acquired any other arts than those of hunt- 
ting, fishing, constructing habitations, and storing vege- 
table food. Animal food could not be stored without a 
higher degree of art. Man is the first and only animal 
that has manifested the ability to get possession of living 
animals, and keep them within his reach that he may 
feed upon them at his pleasure. The nearest approach 
to this is the instinct of dogs and foxes, which makes them 
conceal bones and fragments of flesh, and keep them until 
they are wanted ; but man is the only animal that keeps 
his food alive; he is the only shepherd, — I apply the term 
shepherd to the herding of all animals, though zoo-herd 
would be more proper. Shepherding is an art founded 
upon hunting, as a substitute for it ; it is a higher art, more 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 97 

economical and intellectual ; it led to ideas of wealth, and 
to the exclusive possession of land, for purposes of graz- 
ing and watering ; it led to the selection of lands which 
were best adapted to these purposes ; and this in turn led 
to some slight attempts to improve the land, by digging 
wells, and removing the obstacles which prevented the 
access of cattle to good watering-places. The next step 
would be to remove the obstacles to vegetation itself 
in those instances, where plants or trees were found to 
be valuable, — to prevent their destruction, and encourage 
their growth by watering them, and digging around them y 
and by favoring the growth of more of the same kind by 
planting or scattering the seed, and preventing the intru- 
sion of browsing animals. This was the rude origin of 
agriculture. 

Men were fruit- gatherers before they were hunters, and 
hunters before they were shepherds, and shepherds be- 
fore they were farmers, and farmers before they were 
mechanics, and mechanics before they were philosophers 
or merchants. The use of implements in agriculture 
rendered the manufacture of such implements necessary; 
as the axe, the spade, the plough. The scarcity of veg- 
etable food rendered hunting necessary ; the scarcity of 
animal food rendered shepherding necessary ; the scarcity 
of both rendered farming necessary ; and the greater the 
scarcity, the greater the skill that became necessary, and 
the better the tools and the storehouses. Those who were 
the most skilful, would be the most wealthy, and this 
would at once make mechanic arts important, and lead to 
their encouragement and improvement ; and as commu- 
nities increased, this led to experimental philosophy and 
9 



98 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

the fine arts. The skilful supplied the unskilful. Cities 
were thus founded, improved and ornamented, and com- 
merce began as a consequence of mechanical skill. 

Thus men were mechanics before they were mer- 
chants. Excessive wealth and leisure produced the fine 
arts. In crowded cities, amid luxury and vice, the powers 
of man were directed to a thousand objects of a trifling, 
idolatrous, and sportive character, until at length it has 
become a difficult question, with some philosophers, 
whether some of his powers were not originally bestowed 
for the mere purpose of trifling and idolatry. The primi- 
tive nature of man is entirely overlooked and lost in the 
mazes of superstitious idolatry and depravity. 

Agriculture and commerce are both related to Hope. 
They are means of preventing the necessity of migration. 
Shepherds were necessarily rovers ; as their flocks and 
herds increased, they were forced to find new and more 
extended plains ; but agriculture gratifies the same ex- 
pectant impulse of hope, by leading it to expect a reward 
of labor in future crops. By making the present home 
more productive, migration becomes unnecessary. 

Commerce, also, is a substitute for emigration ; for, in- 
stead of going to the land of plenty, we can, by means 
of commerce, bring its productions to us. This doubt- 
less is the reason that the organ of Hope is large on 
enterprising merchants, and energetic farmers, and on 
all men who are disposed to look with confidence to the 
future, and act with promptness and cheerfulness. 

XII. Origin of Hope, or the migrative impulse. — 
This organ is admitted, by all writers on phrenology, to 
be large in enterprising, confident, cheerful, adventurous, 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 99 

visionary characters. Religious hope is considered as a 
confident expectation and desire to reach " another and 
a better world," — a distant " happy land of promise," 
— a land of plenty — "a land flowing with milk and 
honey" — 

" Some happy island in the wat'ry waste." 

Hope, in Collins' ode, 

" Bids the lovely scenes at distance hail." 

Now, what were the circumstances in which hope 
originated ? What is its natural stimulant ? 

It seems to me that, if we consider this the migrative 
impulse, the explanation covers and reconciles all other 
views which have been taken of its nature and functions. 

Migration is the last resort of animals from the rigors 
of winter. When Alimentiveness cannot get a supply of 
vegetable nourishment from the earth, — when Destruct- 
iveness furnishes no flesh, nor Constructiveness no shel- 
ter, nor Acquisitiveness no stores, nor Experimentiveness 
nor Perfectiveness no new modes of supplying wants, — 
then it is that Hope takes its flight to sunnier climes, and 
bids farewell to a native barren land. Northerners have 
always migrated to the south in cold seasons, and unpro- 
ductive, times. Some animals manifest this propensity 
in a high degree, and works on natural history offer nu- 
merous interesting illustrations of the migratory instinct. 

This organ is superadded to Acquisitiveness, grows out 
of the top of it, and seems to be in its nature a modifica- 
tion of it, — a sort of substitute for it. This will be obvious 
if we reflect that, in severe seasons, animals must store 
up provisions sufficient for the approaching winter, or 



100 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

emigrate to a milder clime, or they must perish. Had it 
not been that the cooling of the earth produced winter, 
the earth could not have produced the migrative propen- 
sity, and Hope would never have existed. Under Provi- 
dence, therefore, winter may be considered the creator of 
Hope, one of the very highest attributes of humanity. 
This being so, man, as we now know him, — man pos- 
sessed of Hope, Oonstructiveness, and Acquisitiveness, 
— could not have existed before winter rendered shelter, 
and stores, and emigration necessary ; and as such 
winters did not exist before the tertiary period, man, in 
his present form, could not have previously existed. If 
he existed before, he must have been in some lowlier 
and less intellectual form. 

I consider migration as the primitive mode in which 
Hope was manifested ; but it is incidentally exhibited in 
numerous other modes : planting, commercial enterprises, 
and, indeed, all operations where the present immediate 
gratification is deferred to gain a greater future good, in- 
dicate the influence of this impulse, and proceed from it. 
But the object of this treatise is not to illustrate all the 
phases of the organs, but to indicate their primitive func- 
tion and origin. 

IPSEAL SUMMARY. 

We have briefly reviewed the ipseal phreno-organs, and 
seen them receiving superadditions, as external circum- 
stances and the surrounding earth demanded. We have 
seen the animal commence existence with, I. Pneumative- 
ness, II. Alimentiveness, and III. Sanativeness, and pro- 
ceed happily until the scarcity of vegetable food added IV. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 101 

Destructiveness, the operation of which produced V. Com- 
bativeness; the scarcity of animals fit for prey, and their 
experience in warfare, added VI. Secretiveness, and VII. 
Cautiousness. The coldness of the weather had now 
increased to such a degree, as to act not only upon the 
food, but upon the constitution of the animal himself, so 
as to render shelter necessary, and thus produced VIII. 
Constructiveness. But the cold still increasing, and 
€Utting off the supply of food during winter, it became 
necessary to introduce IX. Acquisitiveness. We now find 
him with a store of provisions, with parents to nurse and 
protect him, and allowing him leisure for X. Experi- 
mentive playfulness in youth, preparing him for experi- 
mental plans of happiness in mature age. Next, the 
increasing wants and numbers of a complicated com- 
munity render improvements necessary in all the various 
departments of industry, and this^ introduces XI. Per- 
fectiveness, which carries man forward and supplies 
his wants, until he is again at his wits' end. Finally, 
XII. Hope, rises on her migrative wings, and bears him 
to a distant promised land, where he is to enjoy all the 
pleasures which his soul desires-, but which could not be 
found in his native home. Hope makes him engage in 
perilous and doubtful enterprises with confidence and 
energy, casting his bread upon the waters, like seed upon 
the ground, assured that the future will return it with 
great usury. Although the present country is cold and 
cheerless, migrative hope leads him to another and more 
genial clime, where primeval plenty still exists to cheer 
his heart, and reward his perseverance. 




The above engraving represents the Ipseal Organs, developed in five ranges, or strata^, 
which are superadded, in a regular and progressive order, from 1 to 5, corresponding with 
the order in which animals were created and adapted to the successive geological con 
ditions. 

1. This range is at the base of the brain, and relates to the lowest necessities of animal 
existence. It was possessed by the first created vertebral animal. 

2. This range relates to the violence and contention which arose from the necessity 
of eating flesh. 

3. This range relates to the cunning and prudence which violence rendered necessary. 

4. This range relates to the necessities produced by cold, since the carboniferous period. 

5. This range relates to the ipseal wants produced by the increase, progression, and 
concentration of society, from the oolitic period until now 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 103 



SECTION XII. — ORIGIN OF THE SOCIAL ORGANS. 

1st. Amativeness. — The first and lowest organ of this 
class is Amativeness, — the propensity to propagate the 
species. It is manifested in some manner by all organ- 
ized beings, from the lowest vegetable to the highest an- 
imal. Reproduction is a mode of disposing of an excess 
of nutrition, and is manifested in the highest degree in 
warm countries, and where food is the most abundant. 
This impulse seems to become less powerful as the cli- 
mate becomes more severely cold. Animals become less 
and less productive as they rise in the scale. The fish, 
which is at the bottom of the vertebrated class, produces 
millions at a birth ; and a single pair can multiply, in 
two years, so as to outnumber the whole human family. 
The elephant, horse, whale, and beaver, are in this re- 
spect more like human beings; but, even in regard to 
the higher animals, it is found by experience, that a 
mode of living similar to that enjoyed by the lower 
animals, — plenty and ease, without labor, — is highly 
stimulating to the reproductive instincts. 

It should be remarked, that this impulse being the 
lowest of the social class, I do not propose to discuss its 
origin; it is sufficient that the lowest vertebrates pos- 
sessed it in perfection ; and we will, therefore, proceed 
to the next organ of this class. 

2d. Origin of Parentive?iess, or Philoprogenitiveness. — 
Natural history affords abundant evidence that this im- 
pulse is greatly dependent, for its activity, upon coldness 
of climate. Geology teaches us that the earliest verte- 
brated inhabitants of the earth were fishes. Now it is 



104 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

well known that the simplest fishes manifest the slight- 
est degree of parental affection, although they are ex- 
ceedingly prolific. Indeed, I doubt whether they mani- 
fest any at all. The seal, the whale, the dolphin, and 
some other marine animals, are affectionate to their 
young; but these animals are not ranked by naturalists 
among fishes, nor did they exist in the primitive ocean 
in which fishes originated. They are first found in the 
rocks denominated oolitic. 

Reptiles, though higher in the scale than fishes, mani- 
fest the parental instinct but slightly, and originally it 
is not probable that they did at all. Many of them leave 
their eggs to be hatched by the warmth of the sun and 
the earth, as the fishes do, affording no warmth to them 
from their own bodies, in the manner practised by higher 
animals. Reptiles do, however, show some regard for 
their young, by protecting them from the assaults of 
their enemies ; and thus indicating that they are superior 
to fishes in this respect. 

Birds are much more parental then reptiles. Reptiles 
and birds are first found in the new red sandstone. They 
existed at an age when no animal had yet been produced, 
capable of nourishing its young with milk. Such a mode 
of nourishing the young was not yet necessary. The 
oolitic era introduced the mammalia, and the eocene 
period saw them increased a hundred fold, in the midst 
of a climate of continually increasing chilliness. The 
mammals surpass all other vertebrated animals in point 
of intelligence, and in the number of their social im- 
pulses. They are capable of keeping their young in a 
warm situation, and nourishing them with their own 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 105 

blood before birth, and of feeding them, after they are 
born, with the most delicious and appropriate food, 
drawn from their own bodies. It is obvious that, the 
colder and more barren the surrounding country, the 
longer it must be before the young of any animal can 
become independent of the parent. 

It is said (I know not on what authority) that the 
pelican has been known to pierce her own breast, to fur- 
nish nourishment for her young. This may have been 
true, also, of other animals ; and if practised by one an- 
imal, and then by its offspring, for several successive 
generations, this would at length so far modify the con- 
stitution of the breast, as to originate the teats and 
mammae in one female ; and from this one all other mam- 
malia of one species may have descended. This hypoth- 
esis is perfectly consistent with admitted principles of 
physiology; for it will not now be denied that the 
changes produced in one generation are transmitted to 
the next, by hereditary descent. 

The organ of Parentiveness is separated from the cer- 
ebellum by a membrane called the tentorium ; and the 
lamellated structure of the cerebellum gives it an appear- 
ance so different from the rest of the brain, that, at first 
view, it seems difficult to reconcile the intimate relation, 
in function, of Amativeness to Parentiveness, with their 
apparent anatomical separation and difference of struc- 
ture; but a further consideration of the matter may 
bring us to perceive that even this apparent contradiction 
furnishes a strong argument in favor of these views ; for 
there was an immense period elapsed, after the creation 
of the cerebellum, before any other social organ was su- 



106 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



the 



peradded ; and, during that time, the ipseal class, in 
middle lobe of the brain, had received at least fbur new 
organs, and must have possessed the predominant arte- 
ries and veins; so that, when Parentiveness and other 
new social impulses were added to Amativeness, they 
could easier receive nourishment from the ipseal arteries 
than from those of the cerebellum. Thus the cerebel- 
lum was left alone in its glory, with its tentorium wrapped 
around it, separating it from contact with the rest of the 
brain. A similar separation, though less in degree, exists, 
and probably from the same cause, between the base of 
the middle and the anterior lobes of the brain. It is called 
"the fissure of Sylvius." These anatomical separations 
seem almost to represent the vast periods of time which 
elapsed from the creation of the separated organs ; for 
there are no organs which geology indicates as waiting 
so long for their superincumbent organs, as Amativeness 
and Secretiveness. The probability is, that Construc- 
tiveness and Tune were, in our race, undeveloped until 
after they became residents of the land ; and that Ama- 
tiveness was the only social organ that, existed until after 
seven of the ipseals were developed. 

3d. Origin of Inhabitiveness. — This impulse would 
be rendered necessary by the wants of the young, espe- 
cially of those animals which cannot take their young 
with them, as the bats and whales do. Geology shows 
that animals inhabited more and more limited regions, 
as the cold increased. They not only occupied limited 
regions, but they became more diversified in their forms 
and habits, to correspond with the various degrees of 
temperature, and the various kinds of food, which sur- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 107 

rounded them. These forms and habits, once acquired 
by long continuance in their native regions, could not be 
suddenly shaken off, and they could no longer even exist 
in a climate like that which their progenitors once en- 
joyed. Migration to a much colder or warmer climate 
would be their destruction. When it became necessary 
for the .parent to go in search of food to bring to its 
young, it also became necessary for those young to re- 
main where the parent left them, in order to be found on 
her return, that they might be fed, and thus saved from 
starvation. In this latter view, Inhabitiveness is a social 
impulse of much importance, and is made necessary by 
the wants of the animal, which wants are produced, 
directly or indirectly, by cold. 

The cultivation of the earth is related to Inhabitive- 
ness. It originated in the coldness of the earth, prevent- 
ing it from producing a sufficient quantity of food. Men 
were, doubtless, shepherds before they were farmers; 
they lived on the spontaneous productions of the earth 
first, and cultivated it when it produced too little without 
assistance. Farming is a kind of vegetable midwifery ; 
it enables mother Earth to bring forth many noble pro- 
ductions, which, without such assistance, would perish 
in her exhausted bosom. The cultivation of the earth, 
or even the feeding upon the productions of a particular 
region, would naturally develop Inhabitiveness. 

4th. Origin of Adhesiveness. — This organ is super- 
added to Parentiveness, to make the young become 
attached to the parent, and to its mates of the same 
family. Thus it lays the foundation of all kinds of 
attachment, — filial, fraternal, platonic, and amorous or 



108 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

conjugal, — according to the other organs with which it 
happens to be combined. Its primitive function seems 
to have been filial attachment ; for it is almost as neces- 
sary that the young should be attached to the parent, as 
that the parent should be attached to the young; other- 
wise, the young would desert as soon as they were able 
to do so, and thus lose the benefit of the parental protec- 
tion. The young of the whale is said to be carried 
through the water, attached to the teat ; and the young 
of the bat is also said to be carried through the air, at- 
tached to the breast. The young of some of the monkeys 
are carried about, attached to the mother's neck ; they 
only release their hold to receive nourishment, aud then 
cling again to the neck. Infants have a strong tendency 
to cling to their mothers or nurses. As the young ani- 
mal grows older, it attaches itself to its mates, and to- 
gether they show a disposition to live in flocks, herds, or 
droves. Animals that store provisions for winter, as the 
beaver does, live in large families, mutually sustaining 
each other. The organ of Adhesiveness originated in the 
circumstances produced by Parentiveness, and in a state 
of helplessness and dependence produced by cold. The 
reason why the higher animals are born in a more help- 
less state than the lower, will be found, upon a careful 
inquiry, to be referable to the coldness of the climate in 
which they properly belong, and to the circumstance that 
the mother is more capable of nourishing them with her 
milk after birth, than with her blood before, when she 
was under the necessity of bearing them about with her 
while in quest of food. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 109 

5th. Origin of Imperativeness , or Self-Esteem. — The 

impulse to command : 

" Order is heaven's first law ; and, this confessed, 
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest." 

Parentiveness, Adhesiveness, and Inhabitiveness hav- 
ing already been rendered necessary, and produced, by 
cold, the operation of these organs necessarily tended to 
bring animals together in large communities. Now it 
seems impossible that any large community or family 
can long remain together without some kind of govern- 
ment. The strong would, of course, control the weak ; 
the parent would govern the young. Contests would 
often take place, to determine claims to precedence and 
superiority ; but, the victory once gained by one party, 
his superiority would afterwards be recognized by the 
weaker. The very discharge of the parental protecting 
authority would beget Imperativeness in the parent, and 
Submissiveness in the young, as a necessary consequence ; 
for it should be recollected that the same stimulus which 
excites an organ, originally created it. We find this 
organ superadded (in the middle line of the head) to 
Inhabitiveness, the impulse to live continuously in one 
place. In its lower lateral portions it grows out of Ad- 
hesiveness. These two lower organs. Inhabitiveness and 
Adhesiveness, give a tendency to form communities, and 
gather them into one place as a home. When we con- 
sider how naturally government would follow this state 
of a community, and how naturally the circumstances 
would tend to modify the lower social organs, to harmo- 
nize with the governing action, we must admit that Im- 
perativeness is a result which might justly be anticipated ; 



110 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



tion 



and the actual development of the organ, in the position 
which it occupies, is well accounted for upon the phreno 
geologic theory. 

6th. Origin of Approbativeness. — This organ is super- 
added to Adhesiveness, and is an offshoot, in a lateral 
direction, from Imperativeness; accordingly, in its func- 
tion, it is a modification of both, and seems to partake of 
the nature of both, at the same time that it has peculiar- 
ities of its own. It cannot but happen, in a large com- 
munity, that there will always be rival chiefs ; and the 
superiority of one over the other must depend, in some 
measure, upon the aid of auxiliary forces. These auxil- 
iaries must be conciliated, and their friendly influences 
obtained. That chief who could most successfully win 
the favor of his associates, would find himself preferred 
to his rivals ; and, even though they might be individu- 
ally the most powerful, yet, by the assistance of his aux- 
iliaries, he would be sustained in the chief authority. 

The disposition to court the favor of those who have 
influence depends upon this organ of Approbativeness. 
This is its primitive use — to gain popularity as a means of 
governing the community. The love of compliments and 
flattery, the shallow vanity and love of display, that are 
often referred to this organ, proceed from its unbalanced 
and misdirected operations. These must not be con- 
founded with its legitimate, primitive, and proper mani- 
festations. I suppose that this organ was begotten by 
the influences of community, acting upon Adhesiveness 
and Imperativeness, and producing a peculiar compound 
modification of both, which would enable its possessor 
to govern associates more successfully. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. Ill 

7th. Origin of Firmness. — This is the impulsive 
propensity to maintain the social position which Imper- 
ativeness has impelled us to assume. Firmness neces- 
sarily rests upon Imperativeness, and depends upon it; 
or, more properly speaking. Firmness is a modification 
of Imperativeness. When one member of a community 
assumed authority, and exercised it, there would be 
continual efforts and tendencies, on the part of the gov- 
erned, to subvert or avoid his controlling influence; this 
would be resisted, and Firmness called into requisition. 
In order to account for the origin of this organ, it is only 
necessary to account for the origin of Imperativeness, 
and its modification, by attempts to overturn authority 
by force ; or else to cause the governor to change his 
decisions, by persuasions and appeals to his friendship, 
kindness, reverence, sympathy, or credulity. 

Whoever has been in a situation of authority where 
there were many who were interested in changing his 
decisions or plans, and bending them to their own selfish 
purposes, or the purposes of their party, will readily 
understand that Firmness is as necessary to resist kind 
and amiable persuasions, and appeals to our good nature, 
as to resist the open opposition of armed enemies. And 
I have no doubt that it is to these stimulating circum- 
stances, which excite the organ of Firmness, that we are 
indebted for its original creation. 

8th. Origin of Conscientiousness , or the impulse of 
Justice and Impartiality. — This organ is an offshoot 
from Firmness, and is immediately above Approbative- 
ness, as it were superadded to it. In order to under- 
stand its function and its origin, we must consider it as 



112 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






a modification of these two organs, and as principally 
needed to ensure the stability and usefulness of govern- 
ment, by causing justice to be impartially administered. 
Where there are, in any large community, many claim- 
ants of the same thing, and it is in the power of the 
parent or chief to decide between them, Approbativeness 
would incline to gratify the most powerful, agreeable, or 
useful favorite; Firmness would tend to decide in a 
manner consistent or analogous with prior decisions 
made under similar circumstances; the ipseals would 
tend to decide according to self-interest alone, without 
regard to either claimant. Now, it seems that this organ 
is the result of this struggle, aided by an intellectual per- 
ception of the fitness and propriety of being an impartial 
judge in all cases, even to the sacrifice of selfish and 
personal claims. We have already seen Approbativeness 
endeavoring to obtain power by consulting the wishes of 
the community, and Firmness endeavoring to retain 
power by consistency and a resistance of opposing influ- 
ences. It is obvious that the individuals who were 
placed in authority, and in situations of responsibility, 
would naturally be tempted to take advantage of their 
situations to benefit themselves at the expense of the 
other members of the community. This would be re- 
sisted, and the rulers would be forced, (in order to be 
popular, and to be enabled to continue in authority,) to 
act for the good of others, even to the partial injury of 
self. If they would not do this, they would be ousted 
from power. They would thus be forced to be impartial 
and just, to a certain degree, and this would produce a 
modification of Firmness and Approbativeness. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 113 

Conscientiousness, or Justice, may be properly con- 
sidered as a species of enlightened and improved Appro- 
bativeness; for a fair and impartial government, even 
among savages, will be ultimately the most popular and 
the most permanent. It produces the greatest good to 
the greatest number, and, consequently, engages the feel- 
ings as well as the interests of the greatest number in its 
favor, whenever they are capable of understanding the 
question. The conclusion is, that the stimulus which 
acted as the sub-creator of this organ, was the clashing 
and contending interests of a large community, gradually 
perfecting its modes of government, through a succession 
of generations, sufficiently numerous to allow of the 
development of this part of the brain, as an offshoot 
from Firmness, and a super-addition to Approbativeness. 

9th. Origin of Submissiveness, or Veneration. — The 
exercise of Imperativeness in the superior is a powerful 
stimulus to Submissiveness in the subordinate. It is its 
most powerful stimulus, and therefore may be deemed 
its sub-creator. One generation being forced to submit, 
would undergo a slight modification of its organization, 
which would be transmitted to the next generation, and 
they would, in consequence, submit more readily than 
their ancestors did, and their offspring would be yet more 
submissive, until, in the course of ages, this organ would 
become distinctly developed, and would be excited when- 
ever superior power or influence was brought to act upon 
the individual. 

Perhaps Submissiveness may be a modification of 
Firmness. If we can imagine an animal with large 
Firmness and no Submissiveness, forced continually to- 
10* 



114 PHREN0-GE0I.0G7. 

submit to superior power, in despite of all the power 
which Firmness could exert, it is reasonable to suppose 
that such proceedings would impress and modify the 
organ of Firmness in a peculiar manner. Bearing in 
mind that the brain is the source and organ of conscious 
motion, a forced modification of motion will, of course, 
force a modification of the organ in which such motion 
originated. 

10th. Origin of Kindness, or Benevolence. — Primi- 
tively, this is the tendency to hold amicable intercourse 
with strangers, and to conform to the wishes of any one, 
whether previously acquainted with him or not. This 
organ and Submissiveness seem to be somewhat antag- 
onistic to Firmness and Imperativeness. The necessity 
which exists in a large community of addressing indi- 
viduals with whom there is but little acquaintance, and 
treating them with indulgence and hospitality, might 
naturally produce this development as a modification of 
Submissiveness, yet differing from that organ in being 
excited by the importunity, or even the presence, of any 
one, whether he has authority or not. It originated in 
the necessity of amicable and peaceful intercourse among 
members of the same community, when that community 
becomes extensive, and partially separated into classes 
and tribes. The common notion, that this is the organ 
of Christian charity or benevolence, must be abandoned; 
it is, primitively, merely an impulse to gratify strangers 
or slight acquaintances, and is very necessary in a large, 
expanded, and crowded community. Before large com 
munities existed, this organ was not created; and we 
now find it most developed upon those who are most 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 115 

successful, in general society, in rendering themselves 
agreeable to persons for whom they really have but little 
affection or attachment. Cosmopolites, philanthropists, 
and general lovers of mankind, such as Garrison and 
Wilberforce, have it large. Kindness, Justice, Approba- 
tiveness, and Acquisitiveness, must have been brought 
into requisition nearly at the same time, and that time 
must have been when the number of individuals and 
their difficulties required more perfect social institutions. 

11th. Origin of Imitativeness. — This organ is inti- 
mately related to Kindness, both in function and also in 
anatomical position. The two organs run parallel to 
each other at the upper front part of the head; both 
seeming to have their roots in Submissiveness, they run 
forward to reach the intellectual directive organs in the 
upper part of the forehead. Kindness is the impulse to 
do as others desire ; Imitativeness is the impulse to do as 
others do, and to adopt the manners of associates upon 
slight acquaintance. It tends to produce uniformity of 
manners throughout any community. It is obvious 
that society is the natural stimulus of this organ, and, 
therefore, must have been its original sub-creator, by 
producing a modification of Submissiveness and Kind- 
ness. It is excited by any new or very peculiar modes 
of action of our associates. 

12th. Origin of Credenciveness, or Marvellousness. — 
This organ finds its stimulus in the motions, sounds, 
writings, or other signs that intelligent beings make, to 
inform us of what they think. It is a mode of substi- 
tuting the perceptions of others for our own, when we 
are so circumstanced that we have no good opportunity 
to perceive for ourselves. In large and complicated 



116 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

communities there is no possibility that all can be per- 
sonally present to witness the proceedings which interest 
them. Many important transactions, in which they are 
deeply interested, happen before they are born. They 
must, therefore, depend upon the assertions and represen- 
tations of those who were then present. Such assertions 
are the natural stimuli of this organ, and excite it to 
action. They are, unquestionably, its sub-creators. 

All language is an appeal to Credenciveness, and all 
social beings have language. I consider this a highly 
important and interesting organ ; its influence upon 
human destiny is immense. It is the foundation of all 
belief, all religion, all literature, and, indeed, of every- 
thing in human institutions which raises man above 
other terrestrial animals. 

The more language is cultivated, and the more men 
believe in truthful assertions, the greater is the distance 
in time and space with which we can be acquainted ; for 
we can use the perceptions and recollections of others, 
instead of our own, and thus make them our agents for 
acquiring knowledge to guide our conduct. 

This organ is a modification of Submissiveness and 
Imitativeness, and it is anatomically connected with them 
both. We rarely fail to believe those to whom we sub- 
mit, and whom we imitate. An individual, therefore, 
surrounded during his whole life by a large community 
of social beings, would be likely to receive this modifica- 
tion, and his offspring would increase it, until it became 
what we now find it in the human head. I am inclined 
to think that Credenciveness is the organ which gives 
the impulse to talk ; or else an organ adjoining it, not yet 
defined, performs this function. 




The above engraving represents the successive stages of social progression, and the 
order and direction in which the Social Organs were created. 

1. This part of the brain was created first, and existed cotemporaneously with tne 
lowest ipseals and directives. 

2. This part was added when the geological changes rendered parental care necessary. 

3. This part was superadded when the rudest and most violent government was insti- 
tuted, between the oolitic and tertiary periods. 

4. This portion was created in the eocene period, when communities became rudely and 
imperfectly organized, and subordination was rendered necessary. 

5. This was created between the eocene and diluvial periods, when society gradually 
assumed a regular and organized form, such as is exhibited by beavers, bees, orangs, and 
New Hollanders. 

6. This part was created in modern ages, when those institutions commenced whic 
»re pecu' ~ar to man, and which elevate him above savage life. 



L18 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






SECTION XIII. — ORIGIN OF THE DIRECTIVE OR 
INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 

These organs seem to be merely the guides and direct- 
ors of the blind ipseal and social impulsives ; the proba- 
bility is, that the lowest of them came into existence 
simultaneously with the principle of consciousness. 

It would almost appear that vegetables have blind 
impulses to acquire nourishment, and to reproduce their 
kind, but they probably have no external senses and no 
perceptive powers, such as we can understand ; but the 
instant that a vegetable rises to the dignity of an animal, 
it has a greater or less number of external senses, which 
are impressed by such objects as the animal needs, and 
such impressions are transmitted along certain conductors, 
which, in higher animals, we call nerves of sense. The 
impressions, after passing along the nerves, pass through 
certain perceptive organs, that modify them, and analyze 
them in such a way, that, after leaving the perceptive 
organs, the impressions proceed to the central organ of 
consciousness, in the medulla oblongata, and there in- 
form the mind concerning the form, flavor, color, sound, 
motion, direction, arrangement of parts, resemblances 
and connections of the various objects which surround 
the individual, and which require the action of the 
impulsive organs that are in connection with the ob- 
longata. 

In arranging the directive organs, I have placed Flavor 
first, because it seems to be the very perceptive faculty 
which the lowest and first created animal would need, to 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 119 

enable him to perceive the qualities of his food, and to 
guide the alimentive impulse to its proper kind of nour- 
ishing stimulus. Another reason for placing it first, is 
that it is situated in the lowest and most posterior po- 
sition ; it constitutes the portion of the middle lobe 
which borders upon the median line, and, when large, is, 
capable of crowding forward the bones of the face under 
the eye near the nose. 

The next organ is commonly denominated Individu- 
ality; but I am so much dissatisfied with the function 
which Spurzheim and his followers have ascribed to it, 
that I am disposed to deny its existence altogether, as a 
distinct power of the mind. The function which is as- 
cribed to Individuality seems to me to belong to Causality. 
Spurzheim says, it gives such ideas as God — man — 
tree. Now is it not palpably erroneous to bestow upon 
the very lowest faculty of the intellect the power of under- 
standing such an idea as that which we have of God — 
the unity of all causes — the centre of all things? Is it 
not obvious that this idea can only result from Causality, 
aided by all the other powers of the mind 1 Dr. Gall 
never admitted the organ of Individuality, nor the organ 
of Size; he named the parts called Individuality and 
Size by one name, which signified the power of observ- 
ing the essential appearances of things, " the spirit of ob- 
servation.^ I agree exactly with Gall, that all which we 
know of this part is that, those who have it large excel 
in the power of noticing the general outline of objects, and 
I think it may be called the organ of Extension, which 
is the same as to call it the organ of Size. What Gall 
called the organ of Locality, I think is the organ which 



120 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

perceives the direction of objects. I doubt the existence 
of what Gall calls the organ of Form, and which is sup- 
posed to give width between the eyes. In place, then, 
of the organs of Individuality, Size, Form, and Locality, 
I have only two organs, namely, Extension and Direc- 
tion. I find it convenient to call the whole space where 
the nose joins the forehead Observation, as Dr. Gall did, 
but I include in it all the organs known as Individuality, 
Form, Size and Locality. It seems to me that a good 
metaphysician can explain all the perceptions usually 
ascribed to these four powers, by the combination of Ex- 
tension and Direction ; thus, Form is extension in various 
definite directions : Locality is the direction of an object 
at a certain definite distance ; Individuality is the idea 
that various properties and attributes, which we perceive 
associated, constitute one object, and this clearly is the 
function of Causality. Besides the advantage of render- 
ing the science of phrenology more correct and philosoph- 
ical, this mode of viewing this part of the head ren- 
ders examinations more practicable, by reducing four 
small organs to two large ones. It has often been objected 
to the science that the size of the organs in this part of 
the head could not easily be determined, because so many 
were crowded into such a small space. These views are 
the result of many years of experience ; but I am aware 
of my liability to err, and I shall receive judicious cor- 
rections and criticisms with respect and gratitude. 

The organs situated along the brow were probably 
created in the order in which they succeed each other, 
from the most low and central to the most lateral, thus : 
Flavor, Extension, Weight, Color, Order, Number ; Fla* 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 121 

vor and Extension being created first of the series, and 
Order and Number last. 

Direction and Motion, or Eventuality, were probably 
created at the same time with Extension. I am inclined 
to think that the first vertebrated animals that were cre- 
ated possessed the power of perceiving flavor, extension, 
direction and motion, and, perhaps, weight also; and 
that Order was created at the time that Constructivene^s 
was, and Number simultaneously with Acquisitiveness. 

As for the organ of Time, I have never yet, from ob- 
servation, been satisfied of its real existence. Tune, I 
think, does exist, and is situated between Constructive- 
ness and Order ; but I am inclined, at present, to the 
opinion that it is a mere impulsive organ of the ipseal 
class ; — that its true function is merely to impel animals 
to make sounds, whether musical or not. It was prob- 
ably created immediately after its possessors emerged 
from the ocean, trod upon terra Jirma, and began to 
breathe the atmosphere unmingled with water. The 
perception of sound depends upon the organ commonly 
called Language. The regular succession of sounds in 
music, called melody, probably depends upon the percep- 
tion of Order and Number; — the perception of its force 
upon the organ of Weight; — of its harmony, upon 
Causality ; — of its expression, upon the higher impulsive 
organs, especially Imitativeness. The perfection of 
voice, of course, depends upon the structure of the vocal 
organs of the mouth, throat, and lungs. All these things 
considered, it is by no means strange that those practical 
phrenologists who have ascribed to the organ of Tune all 
the functions concerned in music, have made many gross 



122 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

errors, and been forced to admit that there is some mys- 
tery connected with the organ of Tune, which they were 
unable to solve. I have freely submitted my own views 
of this matter, not in a spirit of dogmatism, but in the 
hope that the inquiry will lead to some satisfactory and 
unanimous conclusion. Comparison and Causality, 
which are situated at the top of the forehead, are com- 
monly called the reflectives, though no good reason has 
been given for doing so. The reason which I shall give 
for thus naming them, and the important distinction 
between them and the other directive organs, which are 
commonly called perceptives, is this : that the perceptives 
receive impressions from the external senses, but the re- 
flectives do not, except indirectly, through the perceptives 
and the conscious centre. Thus, the optic nerve conveys 
impressions to Color, and Color modifies and transmits 
the impressions to Consciousness; and from Conscious- 
ness the impression reaches the reflectives and the im- 
pulsives, which send to Consciousness an impression in 
return. It will, however, be seen that, in a certain sense, 
all the organs are sometimes reflective in their operation; 
that is, they receive impressions through Consciousness, 
and send them back again, modified and tinged by their 
own peculiar character. 

It is difficult to fix a time when animals first needed 
the reflectives. It would almost seem that some degree 
of them was needed in the earliest stages of animal exist-" 
ence. But if this is admitted, then we can still insist 
that they have been gradually increasing in capacity to 
the present time, and are still advancing to new triumphs, 
as man approximates the goal of his ultimate destiny. 




The above engraving represents the order and the direction in which the organs of the 
Directive class were created. 

1. This limited portion, which occupies the central and lowest part of the forehead, 
was the part first created ; and the other portions were added in the manner indicated by 
the lines in the engraving. 

2. This part was created between the protozoic period and the eocene period. 

3. This was added during the tertiary period, cotemporaneously with Constructiveness 
and Acquisitiveness. 

4. This part includes the calculating, mathematical, and philosophical powers, and was 
created last. 



124 PHRENOGEOLOGY. 



SECTION XIV. — CONCENTRATION . 

The causes that produced man are all now in opera- 
tion, creating and decomposing with the same energy as 
ever. Man is changing still. Even within the last 
hundred years, great changes have been wrought, which 
will have some influence in changing the human form 
and organization, and rendering it more harmonious with 
civilization. 

All the improvements which man has made in his- 
toric times, tend to centralization, — to the combination 
of all the race for the benefit of each individual. 

The magnetic telegraph, which is the last great reform- 
er, brings the most distant of earth's inhabitants into 
communication without any intervention of time or space. 
Next previously preceding, the influence of steam pro- 
duced the same tendency, making neighbors and assist- 
ants of the most remote people. The cotton gin furnished 
clothing to all, and made it an object for vessels to trade 
in the most distant regions. The printing-press brought 
minds into communication with each other, and produced 
a more powerful movement towards centralization than 
ever was made before. The invention of the alphabet 
and the art of writing was the commencement of this 
great progress and the invention of the telegraph its 
consummation, thus far. The alphabet, the press, and 
the telegraph, brought the citizens of the world into ac- 
quaintance with each other, as if all were one family ; and 
electricity, ink, gunpowder, cotton, steam, — these have 
informed, conquered, clothed, and conveyed them into 
harmony. Take away the influence of all these, and the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 125 

various portions of humanity would be sundered from 
each other, and mankind return to brutish barbarism. 
Let us learn from this to venerate the mechanic arts, and 
to encourage them. They are the true reformers of the 
world. Why were not these improvements introduced 
into the world before? Why were they postponed so 
long? and why do they come rushing upon us so rapidly 
now? I answer, that the gradual operation of social 
intercourse for ages was insensibly increasing the power 
of the brain after the art of writing became generally 
known. The knowledge of man was continually accu- 
mulating in written records ; and when it began to move, 
though its motion was scarcely perceptible, yet it was, 
in truth, an intellectual avalanche, increasing in volume 
and rapidity at each successive bound, until, at last, its 
force is to be spent in reaction. The race of man cannot 
continue to advance forever. Do you ask me what is 
to set bounds to his progress ? I reply, his wants, the 
pressure of social institutions, and the capacities of the 
earth ; in other words, the stimulating circumstances that 
are brought to bear upon him, and around him. Man 
has not within him any power which moves him until it 
is stimulated and excited by surrounding causes, and the 
extent and duration of his advancing actions are propor- 
tionate to the power of the stimulus which operates upon 
him. The direction of his advance depends, in like 
manner, upon the direction of the stimulating causes of 
action that urge his powers forward. The tendency of 
circumstances has been concentrating, from the very 
beginning of organization to the present time. The ner- 
vous systems of the lower animals are constituted of 



126 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

separated nervous masses, with little connection with 
each other ; but, as we rise to more advanced forms, we 
find the nervous powers more and more concentrated, and 
more perfectly connected, and dependent upon each other. 
This is the reason why an injury of one of the parts of 
man produces such fatal consequences, while upon a 
reptile it is of little effect. 

The tendency of the social impulses has been concen- 
trating, from first to last, from the lowest and first geo- 
logic animal to man. The lowest vertebrates did not 
come in contact even for the purposes of reproduction ; 
for the lowest fishes, I understand, are produced in the 
form of eggs by the mother, and it is upon these eggs 
that the male acts to generate life, and cause them to 
assume the forms and functions of animals. The next 
step was to act upon the eggs before they were brought 
forth, and this was done by sexual connection ; then, 
next, the mother kept the eggs warm by sitting upon 
them ; then the father assisted ; then the eggs were 
hatched within the mother before they were brought 
forth, and nourished by her milk afterwards. And thus, 
as animals progressed, more and more care has been laid 
upon the mother, and more and more dependent upon 
her the young have become, and the longer after birth 
that state of dependence has lasted. 

The next step in the social concentration was, to cause 
the young of the same family to be dependent upon each 
other for protection and assistance, and, at the same 
time, dependent upon a common mother. Next they 
concentrated in a locality, or home ; then they admitted 
a common superior to govern the whole community. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 127 

Next succeeded a popular desire and tendency to acquire 
influence with the whole family ; this was followed by a 
tendency to continue the social habits which were thus 
begun, — to make a consistent course of proceedings. 
Next, impartiality was introduced, to prevent, anarchy 
and separation. Next, the duty of submission. Then, 
kindness to the remote members of the expanding com- 
munity. Then, uniformity of manners throughout the 
whole ; and, finally, a system of language and belief, of 
assertion and credence, to connect the history of all, and 
make experience available. 

Credenciveness relates to numbers, space, and time, 
and concentrates them. To illustrate this, let me remark, 
that it brings numbers into communication, and enables 
each to profit by the experience of all, and thus concen- 
trates in each the essential knowledge and experience of 
all ; and this leads, of course, to the greatest improve- 
ments. It relates to space ; in the most distant regions 
occupied by the members of the community, if they can 
communicate together, it is to each as if he himself had 
travelled to all the parts inhabited by all. It relates to 
time; for it brings each into communication with all, 
not only of his own time, but all the past time that can 
be remembered, or authentically recorded ; all the past 
experience of all his kind is concentrated into the present 
time. 

The tendency of the socials is to make all persons, of 
all times, act as one, and for one end; and that end is, 
to continue existence with the least exertion possible. 
When unnecessary exertions are made by any animal or 
i\ \n, the reason is that their progenitors made similar 



128 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

exertions from necessity, and now, in the offspring, the 
exertions, having no object of a useful kind, are expended 
sportively. 

Social institutions are founded upon the principle that 
the individual can sustain himself best and easiest by their 
means ; they are conservative and economic of individual 
effort. I wish it to be understood that these remarks 
are suggested by the manner in which the social impuls- 
ives are developed and arranged in the human brain, 
and not by a study of -the institutions of society, with- 
out the aid of phreno-geology. Nature aims to avoid all 
useless exertion ; and large communities, like large man- 
ufacturing establishments, economize labor by dividing it. 

THE MORAL. 

The great moral of Phreno-geology is the unity of 
humanity, — the universal brotherhood of man. It shows 
scientifically that the tendency of the phreno powers, 
taken together, is to bring all mankind into communica- 
tion, and into uniformity of opinions, manners, laws, and 
habits; at the same time they tend to the perfection of 
all the arts, sciences, and institutions of man. They 
tend to the occupancy and improvement of the whole 
earth, and the reduction of mankind to a single commu- 
nity, or confederation of communities, — to break down 
the barriers which have been temporarily established by 
partial and narrow views of human rights and duties 
From the time of the creation of the first animal, in the 
protozoic dawn, until the present hour, the wondrous 
principle of Consciousness has been gradually becoming 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 129 

more and more catholic. Having first taken measures tc 
preserve the existence of the individual, nature impelled 
him to protect his offspring, then his brother and sister, 
parents, kindred, and home. The first social impulses 
having created society, the next saved it from anarchy 
and destruction by introducing order, government, sub- 
ordination, and equity. But each community, at first, 
was hostile to every other, just as each individual was 
hostile to every other before society existed. What was 
before a war of individuals, now became a war of races 
and of tribes. But again Consciousness received a new 
benefactor, — kindness, courtesy to strangers, forbear- 
ance to enemies. Slight, indeed, but prophetic, and full 
of promise, was the benevolent impulse at the first. The 
numbers of the tribes were increased, feuds became less 
frequent, peace of longer continuance. The wars of 
races continued without any mitigation ; but the social 
institutions of each tribe continually progressed, and 
embraced a greater and still greater number. Then 
came the imitative principle, and introduced uniformity 
of manners, customs, tones, and signs. This made those 
who were previously alike in organization and in powers, 
alike also in modes of action ; — it tended to prevent, in 
some slight degree, the hostility which arises from dif- 
ference in education and habits. Finally came credence, 
faith, and language. Now dawned humanity. The 
intellect expanded into reflection; the ipseals brought 
experiment, and improvement, and enterprising hope, to 
aid the social structure, and increase the capabilities of 
the individual for the enjoyment of happiness. The 
earliest pages of infant history open to find all these 



130 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



gno- 



powers in a state of activity amid the darkness of i 
ranee. The most enlightened races now living existed 
then ; but without the art of writing or printing ; with- 
out history; without chemistry, geography, astronomy, 
botany, or mechanic science, except such as the rude 
savage possesses at the present time. But what a vast 
and amazing progress has been made since Geology first 
found the conscious principle blindly groping at the bot- 
tom of the sea, aiding the lowly polypus ! and what a 
wonderful progress has been made since human history 
began ! With what magic power now does the con- 
sciousness of man control the earth, belt it with lightning 
telegraphs, span it with iron pathways for steam car- 
riages, rise over its mountains in aerial cars, and tram- 
ple over its vast oceans in steam palaces that defy the 
winds and the waves ! And the progress of consciousness 
— the march of mind — is still triumphantly onward. 
The past is prophetic of the future. The task of con- 
sciousness is yet to be accomplished. War, slavery, 
pauperism, superstition, must yet be conquered. The 
confederation of mankind, to insure peace, justice, and 
humanity, is yet to be established. These phreno powers 
clustered around human consciousness will not pause in 
iheir toil until the destiny of man is accomplished. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 131 



SECTION XV. — PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT. 

Events happen in the order of time, and succeed all 
previous events ; but it by no means follows that each 
succeeding step is an improvement upon the preceding. 

Improvement implies a deficiency existing before the 
improvement began, which is in some degree remedied 
by the improving process. Now I deny that there is any 
evidence whatever that any such deficiency ever existed 
in former ages. There was always a perfect adaptation 
of organized beings to their circumstances. This being 
so, they could not be improved. At the time when no 
animals with lungs existed, it would have been uo im- 
provement to have made fishes with lungs, for they could 
not have used them ; nor would human brains have been 
any improvement, but rather the reverse. But when the 
atmosphere was purified of its carbon and vapor, and 
the earth rose from the sea, and became fertile and salu- 
brious, animals underwent a corresponding change, which 
did not improve them, but merely adapted them to the 
changed circumstances. When the earth was low and 
meadowy, and no mountains yet existed, the reptiles 
flourished, and increased in size and numbers, until 
their food was insufficient to maintain them all. This 
rendered Destructiveness necessary, and they were forced 
to eat each other. Was this an improvement? When 
the earth grew cold, so that animals could not exist 
without shelter, was this an improvement of the climate ? 
The animals that lived in those polar regions, at that 
time, were of course affected by the changed climate 
and productions of their country ; and those that did not 



132 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

perish became gradually adapted to their wintry circum- 
stances : but it would be an abuse of terms to contend 
that this was such a progression as deserves the name 
of an improvement. 

It cannot be denied that cold countries, provided they 
are susceptible of producing a sufficiency by cultivation, 
are most favorable to intelligence and enterprise; but 
when the coldness proceeds to such a degree as to cause 
perpetual winter, and to maintain eternal snows, — even 
at the level of the ocean, as in the south polar regions, — 
degeneracy and death, or emigration, are the inevitable 
results. The permanent improvement of the inhabitants 
of Greenland is impossible. They can never exhibit the 
varied genius of the Italians or the Americans ; for there 
are not in Greenland the varied circumstances of scenery, 
and soil, and production, and there cannot, therefore, be 
the foundations and materials of art and science that 
Italy affords. Their only refuge from utter brutality is 
in southern migration. The age of improvement in that 
part of the world is past, unless the adaptation of the 
inhabitants to their frozen lands, their smoky, cavernous 
huts, and exclusive flesh and fish diet, deserves to be 
dignified with the name of improvement. 

The great variety of powers manifested by some fam- 
ilies of mankind, arises from the variety of circumstances 
of the country in which, for ages, they have continued 
to live. The variety of its soil and climate, and natural 
productions, vegetable and animal; its rivers, lakes, 
mountains, meadows, forests, fishes, and wild game; its 
contiguity to the ocean ; its convenient harbors ; its natu- 
ral boundaries; the character of neighboring nations; 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 133 

their commercial relations with such people: — all these 
things combine to give activity to all the powers of body 
and mind, and to develop the most latent ipseal and 
social capabilities. 

There is a notion afloat, among modern philosophers, 
that man is in his very nature a progressive being ; that 
he is designed to improve indefinitely ; but we have seen 
that there can be no improvement beyond the point which 
adapts him to circumstances. I cannot conceive that a 
tropical South Sea Islander, who has never felt the cold 
of a snowy winter, who never has had any occasion for 
labor to procure subsistence, who only needs clothing on 
account of modesty, — I cannot conceive that he would 
spontaneously exert himself, merely from a love of im- 
provement, (and there would be no other motive to 
prompt him to exertion ;) — but a Chinese or a German, 
an Englishman or a Yankee, must improve, or suffer a 
severe penalty ; therefore he improves and advances in 
the arts and sciences, and their application to industrial 
and social institutions. 

The Yankee in the South Sea Islands continues, for 
many generations, to exercise the powers which he has 
acquired in New England and in Europe ; but gradually 
he conforms to the surrounding conditions, and imper- 
ceptibly, but surely, loses his peculiar character, and be- 
comes adapted and bends to the influences of the country. 
This change would be denominated a degeneration, but, 
in reality, it might be justly deemed an improvement. 
The Greenlander, transplanted to New England, would 
begin to expand his powers; and each succeeding gener- 
ation would be more and more improved, until the adap- 



134 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

tation to the country was perfected. It will now be 
perceived that there is a definite limit to all improvement, 
and that limit can be in some degree determined. 



SECTION XVI. — ORIGIN OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF 
ANIMALS. 

All animals are formed essentially of oxygen, hydro- 
gen, carbon, and nitrogen, with a little lime, soda, silex, 
or phosphorus. How great a quantity and how small 
a quantity of these ingredients can be combined, and 
constitute an animal, is not ascertained. The whale is 
the largest of known animals, and the infusoria are the 
smallest. I see no reason why an animal might not be 
as large as a thousand whales, if food could be procured 
in sufficient abundance, and during a sufficient number 
of generations. In regard to the forms of animals, I 
cannot perceive why an animal may not be of any 
imaginable form that circumstances may require, for cir- 
cumstances are the sub-creators of animal forms. Aque- 
ous circumstances create finny forms of limbs ; and airy 
circumstances create feathers, and winged forms of 
limbs ; while terra firma circumstances create feet. 

Wherever we see vegetable or animal forms placed in 
new circumstances, we see them perish, or gradually 
assuming new forms adapted to those circumstances. We 
find other animals and man equally subject to this law. 
During the geologic ages we find the forms of animals 
always perfectly adapted to their circumstances; and, 
when those circumstances changed, we find that the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 135 

whole race perished which were dependent upon those 
circumstances, and a new race take their places, adapted 
to the new circumstances. From whence did the new 
race spring? It may have sprung from the old race; 
for if, amid the general destruction of the old race, a 
single pair were so situated, or possessed of such an idio- 
syncracy, as to be able to sustain the shock of new cir- 
cumstances, and survive, — bending and modifying its 
organization to the new conditions, — from this pair 
would spring a new race, to swarm in the same region, 
which would seem like a newly-created genus. Who 
would think, on seeing a worm, that it could ever change 
to a butterfly'? or who, on seeing a frog, would, unless 
they knew the fact, suspect that it was once a fish, with 
fins and tail, incapable of living on land ? Who, on see- 
ing the manner in which men live, and eat, and breathe, 
would think that they had lived in the manner they do 
before birth, for several months, surrounded by fluid like 
a fish, without eating or breathing? Who, on seeing the 
infant at the breast, would think of the whiskered ruf- 
fian? In regard to the time necessary to produce a given 
amount of change in the form, it is a difficult question. 
A few generations sometimes, when circumstances re- 
quire it, produce vast changes; and, again, we see a 
change, apparently slight, producing death to a whole 
race. 

When we see a whole class of animals distinguished 
from other classes by some slight peculiarity, we may 
well suspect, in harmony with these principles, that orig- 
inally they constituted one class, and that the difference 
which distinguishes ttiem was owing to the difference in 



136 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

their circumstances during a sufficient length of time. 
When we see an immense subdivision of the animal 
kingdom having some very essential and fundamental 
organs in common, which they exhibit under a thou- 
sand forms, we may reasonably suspect that the time 
was when but one of these forms existed, and that all 
sprung from that one. This suspicion is confirmed, when 
geology shows us, in the plainest and most unequivocal 
manner, that there was certainly a time when but one 
of these forms existed, and that was the simplest of all. 
It is surely natural to infer that the existing forms sprung 
from the first form ; and it is not reasonable to suppose 
that each slight variation from the first form was a spe- 
cial miracle, a separate and isolated creation, without 
any connection with other forms. Nothing but a most 
profound sense of religious duty will induce us to enter- 
tain such a mode of reasoning; and we feel relieved 
when we find that duty demands no such violation of 
common sense. It is most probable that all animals were 
originally animalculse, so small that millions of them 
could exist in a drop of water. By aggregation some 
became larger, and this originated large animals ; so that 
large animals sprung from the aggregation of small ones. 
Whatever may have been the original form of the small 
animals, (and the microscope shows them of almost ev- 
ery form and character,) the large animals derived from 
them assumed a form adapted to their situations and cir- 
cumstances. Some became insects, some trilobites, and 
some mollusca. Amid these various forms, one assumed 
the vertebrated form, and became the founder of the im- 
mense and important class to which we belong. I can- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 137 

not understand the propriety of considering vertebrated 
animals as all superior to the invertebrated. There are, 
certainly, many invertebrate insects that are far superior 
in sagacity to any vertebrated animal except man, and 
in some respects superior even to him. It may have 
been that all animals sprung from one common and uni- 
versal monadic form,* some of which became vertebrated, 
and others invertebrated; but it is more than probable 
that all vertebrate animals were originally fishes, of one 
form, and derived from one pair. It is a startling and 
interesting thought, that fishes, reptiles, birds, and mam- 
mals, had one pair for their common ancestors. That 
pair were fishes ; for geology teaches that there was a 
time when no vertebrated animals existed, excepting 
fishes. They multiplied, in a few generations, until the 
whole ocean was abundantly inhabited by their off- 
spring ; being first herbivorous, then some of them car- 
nivorous. Retaining the vertebrae, they assumed various 
forms, adapted to their various climes, and food, and 
enemies. In the course of time, some of them became 
amphibious reptiles, some mammals; so geology declares. 
The amphibia first lived in the mud, occasionally raising 
their heads above the water, until they gradually acquired 
the power to breathe in the manner of modern reptiles, 
spending a portion of time out of the water, upon the 
banks, in the manner of seals. Some would become 
more attached to land than others, and would continue 
to become more and more so ; until, at length, they would 
leave the water entirely, and live altogether on land. 

# By monad, I mean the smallest original infusorial animalcule that 
ever existed. 



138 PHRENO-GEOLOGV. 

They would now be subjected to a great variety of new 
circumstances ; they would need new and different weap- 
ons, limbs, and skin ; and, after ages of approximation, 
they would receive and possess the forms which we now 
see them exhibiting. Those that were previously flying 
fish, became flying reptiles, and then flying birds. Those 
that once used to feed upon sea plants -would next 
feed upon the roots that grew in the water upon the 
banks, then upon those which grew above the water • 
these would commence their terrestrial career with an 
herbivorous predisposition. It is likely that all the ver- 
tebrated animals were, at first, nearly the same in size; 
but, as they underwent various fortunes, some became 
larger, and others smaller ; their sizes becoming as vari- 
ous as their forms, to adapt them to their different desti- 
nies. When one pair emerged from the sea. and became 
land quadrupeds or bipeds, it would multiply its kind, 
and fill the habitable regions of the surrounding earth, 
as its ancestors once rilled the sea. The great variety 
of circumstances in which these first land animals were 
placed, — climate, food, and enemies, — would give a 
very great variety to their forms and sizes. One pair 
of these, peculiarly situated, might become the founder 
of one of the present races of land quadrupeds, and an- 
other of another. Among these ancestral pairs of rep- 
tiles, one may have originated the quadrumanous tribes, 
— monkeys, apes, and baboons. I do not believe that 
man sprung from the orang or the chimpanzee, but I 
deem it highly probable that God created man from a 
lower animal, and that the orang, ape, and man, all 
sprung from a common ancestor. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 139 



SECTION XVII. — ORIGIN OF LAND ANIMALS. 

All land animals originally inhabited the water ; but 
it does not follow, as a matter of course, that they all 
rose to an equal phreno dignity before they left the wa- 
ter; for the marine mammals are, some of them, pos- 
sessed of an^ organization of brain far superior to many 
birds, and even superior to some land mammals. The 
seal, for instance, is not inferior to the dog in any respect, 
and in some social traits is even his superior. 

Birds and land reptiles left the water without rising 
to the dignity of mammals. Birds are, in truth, mere 
flying reptiles, with feathers. Their wings and migra- 
tory habits have prevented them from becoming mam- 
mals. They have always been enabled to escape from 
the rigors of winter, and avoid the drudgery of becom- 
ing mammified to save themselves from destruction. If 
all animals, at all periods of past time, could have been 
so situated that they could have migrated to southern 
regions whenever winter approached their habitations, 
mammals would not now exist, and humanity would 
have been postponed until winter invaded the regions of 
the equator ; or if, by any accidental or providential cir- 
cumstances, any race of animals could be enabled to 
continue their species from eggs, without bringing forth 
their young alive, they would most certainly have done 
so ; for nature never admits of any improvement, nor any 
change whatever, without the most urgent necessity. 

Vertebrated animals are arranged by all naturalists in 
the following order: 1. Fishes; 2. Reptiles; 3. Birds; 
4. Mammals; and it might, therefore, be thought that 



140 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

my doctrine implies that all mammals must have neces- 
sarily passed through all these grades, before they could 
arrive at their present organization. But when we con- 
sider that birds are but a higher order of reptiles, — that 
they are, in fact, but feathered, flying reptiles, just as a 
bat is a flying mammal ; when we reflect that a bird is 
but a fish that has lived in the air until he breathes it 
copiously and perfectly, unmingled with water, and has 
been exposed to the cold until his skin is covered with 
feathers, instead of scales, — we shall readily perceive 
that a mammal might just as well be descended directly 
from a reptile as from a bird, and that such a descent 
would be no departure from the principles of phreno-ge- 
ology, as inculcated in this treatise. It may be that the 
rodents are descended from the birds. There are some 
circumstances that seem to indicate this : 1. Some rodents 
(squirrels) fly; 2. None of them have commissures nor 
convolutions in their brains ; 3. The teeth of the rodents 
are nearer the form of the bills of birds than the teeth 
of any other mammals are ; 4. The mechanical disposi- 
tion of rodents is like that of the bird ; indeed, birds and 
rodents are the only decidedly mechanical vertebrates, 
besides man; 5. Some of the rodents are migratory, par- 
ticularly rats, and in this respect resemble many birds; 

6. Rodents are generally highly gregarious, like birds ; 

7. Rodents easily stand upon their hind legs, like birds. 
One peculiarity of rodents and marsupials (kangaroo and 
opossum) is, that they do not have convolutions nor 
commissures, while all other mammals have. Now, if I 
am right in supposing that convolutions are caused by 
the large size of the brain compared with the body of 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 141 

the new-born mammal, it may be found that the rodent 
is no exception, but rather a proof of the correctness of 
the rule; for I think it will be found that the brains of the 
rodents are all smaller, compared with the body, than 
are those of any other mammal. I have not now before 
me a work from which to ascertain the relative size of 
the brain in rodents; but, from my own observations, I 
know that they seem to be quite small. If I remember 
aright, there is a species of small squirrels that have 
cheek pouches in which to carry their food, and that 
have convolutions. It would be curious to compare the 
size of the brain with the rest of the body in these crea- 
tures, to see if the convolutions are not related to the 
pressure at birth. 

It is quite evident that there is no necessary connection 
between the advancement of the organization of the dif- 
ferent parts of the animal system. Birds are, in respect 
to some parts of their circulatory system, more advanced 
than even man, while they are behind the very lowest 
mammals in their manner of bringing forth their young; 
and, again, in their mechanical skill they excel all ani- 
mals except the rodents and man. The cetacea, (whales 
and dolphins,) while they are inferior to other mam- 
mals and to birds in their circulation, are above all birds 
in their mode of producing their young. The only trait 
which, among naturalists, distinguishes a whale from a 
reptile, is its bringing forth its young alive, and nourish- 
ing them with milk ; and the trait that distinguishes the 
birds from reptiles is their more perfect circulation. A 
bird, then, is a flying reptile, whose circulation is per- 
fected ; and the whale is a swimming reptile, whose 



142 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

reproductive powers are perfected. Quadrupeds have 
both systems perfected. Man has the brain and hands 
perfected. Now if we go back, and examine the reptile, 
or even the fish, we find the undeveloped elements, the 
expansion of which constitutes all other animals. We 
find the breathing apparatus of the bird existing in a 
lower degree, but capable of expansion and modification 
to suit the exigencies of birds, if circumstances should 
demand it, and give opportunity for its development. 
We find, in the way that the fish produces its young, 
the essential process of the mammal; since it is now 
known that the young of the mammal are produced from 
eggs similar to those of reptiles and fishes, and differ 
only in being hatched within the parent, and then ex- 
pelled, instead of the eggs being expelled first, and hatched 
afterwards. It is not difficult to imagine a combination 
of circumstances which would gradually but certainly 
reduce all animals again to fishes of the simplest forms. 
We have no means of determining whether the progeni- 
tors of man were mammals before they left the water, or 
whether they became so afterwards; but man certainly 
went through an extraordinary variety of fortunes and 
changes before he assumed his present form of brain and 
body; and when he left the water, he must have pos- 
sessed a form which was easily moulded into that which 
he possesses at present. It may be that the ancient idea 
of mermaids was not entirely fabulous; and a species of 
sea mammal, as nearly resembling a chimpanzee as the 
seal resembles the dog, may have but lately become ex- 
tinct, as many other animals have done. It is to be 
hoped that the future researches of naturalists may yet 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 143 

throw some light on this obscure question. It would be 
really delightful, if, in consequence of their labors, we 
should be able to determine, with reasonable precision, all 
the various forms and changes which our race has un- 
dergone, in its rise from the ocean and the mud to the 
cultivated field and the classic temple. My own opinion 
at present is, that, the progenitors of man never were 
land quadrupeds, nor do I think they were quadruma- 
nous. I do not agree with those who consider man as 
an improved ape. Man is the only biped mammal in 
existence. Much of his superiority depends upon his 
standing upright, and having the free use of his hands 
It seems quite probable to me that man was formed a 
biped when he first left the water, and that he never used 
his hands for feet. Providence distinguished him from 
all other animals in this respect. Apes and men may 
have been alike when they both inhabited the ocean; 
but the apes degraded themselves beyond redemption, by 
acquiring the habit of walking on their hands, as this 
circumstance prevented them from acquiring those arts 
which gave superiority to man, and enabled him to exist 
in cold regions. 



144 PHEENO-GEOLOGY. 



SECTION XVIII.— ORIGIN OF RACES. 

Any one who carefully observes the differences 
of mankind in complexion, hair, temperament and 
physiognomy can not easily resist the belief that 
many of those differences originated under circum- 
stances and conditions that do not now exist. But 
if in our imaginations we go back to the time when 
our ancestors first left the ocean and gradually 
became exclusively land animals, we can easily con- 
ceive that external circumstances would, during a 
great number of years, produce all the differences 
that we find. Those that landed in Africa became 
negroes, those that landed in certain parts of north- 
ern Asia became whites, those in America became 
copper colored. 

In the present civilized condition of the better 
portion of mankind the tendencies are to make them 
alike in every respect. The different races mingle 
and amalgamate, and by artificial means all are, 
in a considerable degree, protected from the expo- 
sures and hardships that their pre-human ancestors 
suffered. The fact that Australia was, until lately, 
utterly unknown to the people of Europe, Asia and 
America is ample proof that a race of savages could 
live for unknown ages entirely excluded from all 
communication with other races. There is no evi- 
dence or probability that the Australians are the 
kindred of the negroes or the whites. Each dis- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 145 

tinct race has been separate ever since they began 
to live on land, and they owe their distinctive pecu- 
liarities to their several native countries, their cli- 
mates, food, scenery, occupations, diseases and cus- 
toms. So far as we can judge, each race possesses 
the temperament and form of head which their 
country and their occupations would primitively 
have naturally produced. 

It should be remarked that there are striking 
differences among people of the same complexion, 
which plainly indicate that, though they may all have 
originated in similar climates, they must have primi- 
tively differed widely in their habits, especially in 
regard to the manner in which they used their 
mouths. We frequently see white people who differ 
from each other in physiognomy quite as much as 
they do from the negroes. The mouths and teeth 
of some persons remind us of those of a beaver; 
others have jaws and teeth that resemble those of 
the bull-dog or the lion ; others again remind us of 
the sheep or the horse. These features are trans- 
mitted from one generation to another, thus proving 
that they are tribal in their character and not merely 
individual idiosyncracies. It is utterly improbable 
that these different faces originated spontaneously 
under similar conditions and among people of simi- 
lar habits. 

The phrene organs of the brain which are needed 
in a cold climate are small upon the negro and large 
upon the Caucasian. This difference gives the 



146 PHKENO-GEOLOGY. 

peculiar form that is admitted by all naturalists to dis- 
tinguish the African from the Caucasian skull. The 
large development of Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, 
Experiment! veness, and Perfectiveness, — these give the 
oval form to the Caucasian head ; while a deficiency of 
them gives the peculiar flat appearance which charac- 
terizes the negro head. How perfectly does this agree 
with the negro character ! They are miserable mechan- 
ics, exceedingly improvident, and averse to all industrial 
improvements and commercial enterprises. When they 
live here at the north, the houses which they occupy are 
known, almost at a glance, by their broken windows and 
neglected appearance. They do not yet seem to have 
forgotten their African instincts. They never seem to 
be aware of the approach of winter, nor the necessity 
of preparing for it. When it comes, they act as if it 
will be gone to-morrow ; when summer comes, they en- 
joy it while it lasts, regardless of the coming winter. 
They bask in the warm sun, and feast upon the ripe 
fruits as if they would continue to drop from the trees 
into their mouths all the year long. Nothing but com- 
pulsion makes them labor during the summer, and noth- 
ing but charity or slavery keeps them comfortable during 
the winter. The Caucasian, on the contrary, makes the 
summer the very time for labor, and the winter the time 
for enjoyment. 

The negroes who have been brought to this country, 
and subjected to northern influences, must be greatly 
benefitted by the process which they have undergone. 
When they return to Africa, they will spread the ideas 
and habits which they learn, by imitation and experience, 






THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 147 

from their masters. What seems a curse will prove a 
blessing. They will avoid the hard lessons which our 
ancestors had to learn, in their progress to the same point 
of mental improvement and power. 

The native region of the white man is Norway, Swe- 
den, Denmark, Russia, Poland, — Ancient Scandinavia. 
The present nations of Europe have sprung from those 
countries. The northern tribes, or the northern horde, as 
they are called by historians, have repeatedly swarmed 
and overspread the southern parts of Europe and Asia 
like locusts, conquering the effeminate nations of the 
invaded regions with astonishing facility ; but, according 
to these principles, this is precisely the result which we 
should expect under such circumstances. 

In this, our own country, energy, wealth and barren- 
ness, are found at the north; and indolence and poverty, 
amid natural fertility and plenty, at the south. So it 
has ever been in all times, and thus it will be, as long as 
like causes produce like effects. 



148 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

SECTION XIX. — CREATIVE POWER. 

The great truth which is at the foundation of this 
doctrine and system of creation is, that, under the direc- 
tion of Providence, stimulus creates organs^ excites them 
to action, and increases their size, until their capacity 
for increase, or the power of the stimulus, is exhausted. 
There are several distinct things here to be considered. 

1. What is stimulus? 

2. How does it create organs ? 

3. How does it excite them to action ? 

4. How does it increase their size ? 

5. What limits the size of organs? 

1. What is Stimulus ? It is anything which produces 
a movement in an organized being, or a change in form 
or in motion. It is that which makes any organ perform 
its proper and natural function; and it is that which 
causes it to vary its usual function, and become changed 
and modified, so as to appear to be a different organ, or 
created for a different purpose. 

Thus, undulations of light, are the stimuli of the eye. 

Undulations of air are stimuli to the ear. 

Soluble substances are nearly all stimuli to the tongue, 
producing taste. . 

Odorous particles, diffused through the air, operate to 
stimulate the nasal organs, producing smell. 

Food is a stimulus to the stomach, and excites it to 
perform its function, which is to digest the food. 

Cold, or hot, or sharp substances, which come into 
contact with the skin, stimulate to defensive action. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 149 

Any desirable object is a stimulus to action, that it 
may be attained ; any disagreeable object is a stimulus 
to action, that it may be avoided. Thus, friendly society 
is a powerful stimulus ; and enemies, also, are stimuli, 
though of a different kind. 

Applying this to phreno organs, we may consider each 
organ as capable of receiving a peculiar influence, or 
stimulus, which excites it to action ; thus, — 

I. The air entering the lungs is a stimulus to Pneu- 
mativeness. 

II. The sight of food, or the cravings of the stomach, 
stimulate Alimentiveness. 

III. Any injury of the organs excites Sanativeness. 

IV. The sight of a living being whose life is opposed to 
our happiness, and whose death would be, or appear to 
be, an advantage, would be a stimulus to Destructive- 
ness. 

V. The sight or knowledge of a being opposed to our 
enjoyment, or whose possessions are desirable, stimulates 
our Combativeness, to force him to surrender to us the 
desired object. 

VI. The knowledge that the desirable object avoids us 
and is concealed from our view, or that we are advancing, 
against the wishes and without the knowledge of others, 
to the attainment of objects which we desire, but which 
they wish to retain, — this is a stimulus to Secretive- 
ness. 

VII. The knowledge that danger is in our vicinity, 
and is liable to approach us, — this stimulates Cautious- 
ness. 

VIII. The sight of natural productions which are not in 



150 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

the form which adapts them to our purposes, but which 
we are capable of forming and constructing to suit us, — 
these are the stimuli of Constructiveness. 

IX. The sight of property which we do not need now, 
but may hereafter, stimulates Acquisitiveness. 

X. The circumstances which oppose our gratification, 
and which, by some new expedient, may be avoided, 
excite and stimulate Experimentiveness ; so do plans and 
novelties. 

XL The beautiful, the improved, in art, or science, or 
manners, literature, religion, or morals, stimulate Per- 
fectiveness ; and so does the sight or knowledge of cir- 
cumstances which indicate a need of improvement. 

XII. The distant, doubtful, contingent, future, the ex- 
pected or promised, — these stimulate Hope. 

STIMULI OF THE SOCIAL ORGANS. 

1st. The opposite sex, and the proper conditions of the 
body. 

2d. Offspring and their resemblances. 
3d. Familiar places. 

4th. Those friends upon whom we are dependent for 
social happiness. 

5th. Our inferiors in society. 

6th. Those whose influence we need. 

7th. Any attempt to change our positions in society. 

8th. The claims of our associates and friends. 

9th. Our superiors in power or influence. 

10th. Any being capable of appreciating our good in- 
tentions. 

11th. The actions or works of any of our companions. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 151 

12th. The assertions, expressed or implied, of any one, 
and books, and all kinds of writing. 

STIMULI OF THE DIRECTIVE ORGANS. 

1. Flavor — Odorous or sapid bodies, food, drink, air. 

2. Extension — Forms, perceptible substances. 

3. Direction — Distant objects. 

4. Weight — Resistance to the muscles. 

5. Eventuality — Motion, perceptible changes. 

6. Sound — Sounds of all kinds. 

7. Color — Colors. 

8. Order — Things capable of arrangement. 

9. Number — Plural objects, divisions of property. 

10. Time — Chronology, marching, dancing. 

11. Tune — The lungs and organs of voice. 

12. Comparison — Classes, resemblances. 

13. Causality — Everything known. 

MEMORY. 

I consider that memory is principally dependent upon 
Comparison and Causality, the classing and connecting 
faculties; and the greater the experience in difficulty, 
the greater will be the development of these organs; 
because, to extricate one's self from trouble, one must 
remember the lessons of the past, and connect them 
together. Comparison remembers past analogous ideas, 
and Causality connects those with the present, and the 
two processes together constitute memory to guide the 
future course. 

When any organ impresses Consciousness, the impres- 
sion is radiated to Comparison and Causality, and is reg- 



152 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

istered there in a way that is at present unknown. When 
any impression is made upon Consciousness, any similar 
former impressions are generally repeated, though with 
less force; this is memory. But we do not yet fully un- 
derstand the modus operandi by which this repetition is 
produced. The registry and the reproduction of impres- 
sions are yet unexplained. But I suppose that the 
registry is made in the phreno organs, and not in the 
sensorium, and, of course, their reproduction depends 
upon the state into which the phreno organs are put 
by radiations from the sensorium. I am inclined to 
think that the office of registry and reproduction is 
performed mostly by Comparison and Causality, and 
therefore it is that they are necessary to experience, — 
to avail one's self of the past. Therefore, also, one who 
has them large, and the perceptives small, will be likely 
to lack knowledge, but cannot show the power of his 
reflectives to good advantage without it. The organ 
of Credenciveness seems to be related to memory, be- 
cause it is intimately related to literature ; for all lite- 
rature is founded upon the sayings and writings of 
man, which are so much stimuli to Credenciveness, 
received through Sound and Extension; that is, words 
and writing. 

One fact in regard to memory ought to be borne in 
mind, and that is, that we never are impressed with an 
idea relating to the past but as an accompaniment to the 
present. When a present impression is made, it rouses 
in the organs the fibres which were impressed before, 
and causes them to repeat the old impression. This is 
memory and its cause ; but we do not yet know its mode 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 153 

of operation. If we could see the impression made, and 
observe the fibres operate, both the mode in which the 
first impression is received and retained, and then re- 
peated, in company with a new impression, I doubt not 
the whole proceeding would appear simple, and easy of 
comprehension. 

The number, the rapidity, and the succession of the 
impressions, are calculated to confuse and embarrass all 
calculations and reasonings concerning them; but the 
general result will, in all cases, be found to be such as to 
tend to make the actions of the individual harmonize 
with the whole succession of impressions which preceded 
the actions. Memory is, therefore, but stimulus stored, 
the stimuli of experience ; and, like all other stimuli, it 
excites and qualifies our actions. 

2. We now come to the next question, which is, How 

DOES STIMULUS CREATE ORGANS? 

Matter is divided into two kinds ; one kind is said to 
be inorganic, and the other organic, or organized. 

Organized bodies are, in all cases, composed of inor- 
ganic matter, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, lime, 
phosphorus, sulphur, and potash, with a little iron and 
silex. These inorganic substances combine, chemically, 
in various proportions, and arrange their atoms in a 
peculiar manner, and then are said to be organized. 
Organization may, therefore, be defined as a regular 
arrangement of atoms in a peculiar manner. A crystal 
may be said to be organized, for it is constituted of par- 
ticles that arrange themselves in a peculiar and regular 



. 



154 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

manner, as much so as the particles of vegetables or 
animals. 

The a*toms of matter will not arrange themselves in 
the organic form unless so brought together as to admit 
of being acted upon by certain causes, which may be 
denominated stimuli. One of these is heat ; another is 
light; and a third is a species of electricity. Besides 
these, are the forces of affinity, cohesion, attraction, and 
gravitation. The operation of these agents seems to pro- 
duce the organization of crystals, but in a way that is 
not yet thoroughly understood. It is known that when 
the proper substances are brought together, under proper 
circumstances, crystals always become formed; and, 
when the circumstances are the same, the form, size, and 
color of the crystals are the same. 

The same remarks apply equally to the organization 
of vegetables and animals ; they are composed of par- 
ticles, arranged in a certain manner by forces, the precise 
operation of which is not yet well understood. We 
understand the formation of vegetables and animals as 
well as we do of crystals, with the exception of one cir- 
cumstance, and that is, that, in the crystal, no germ is 
necessary to commence the organizing process, but the 
unorganized materials may be brought together, and 
made to commence their process of organization, without 
a pattern to work by ; whereas, in vegetable and animal 
organization, there must be a germ or pattern for nature 
to begin with. In all animals, as far as we know, the 
germ is at first in the form of an egg. In vegetables it 
is generally a seed, which may be called the egg of the 
vegetable. Some vegetables seem to have the power to 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN.' 155 

use any of their fibres as a germ, around which inorganic 
matter may become arranged, upon the same plan as in 
the parent fibre. 

Some way may yet be discovered of causing matter 
to combine, and form vegetables and animals without 
germs, but at present it is not deemed to be practicable. 
Time was when loadstones could only be produced from 
a germ. The magnetic property could not be excited in 
a piece of metal without the aid of a parent magnet to 
commence the process ; but, with this for a germ, how- 
ever small, the process could be made to continue until 
a large mass could be made to be magnetic. At length, 
after ages of observation and experiment, it was discov- 
ered that magnetism could be induced, in any piece of 
iron or steel, without the aid of a magnetizing germ; 
merely by causing a current of electricity to circulate 
spirally around the metal, it was instantly made mag- 
netic. This discovery laid the foundation of the science 
of electro-magnetism. Whether a similar discovery will 
be made, in respect to vegetable and animal germs, re- 
mains to be seen. 

Some late experiments of Messrs. Cross and Weeks 
have led to the expectation that animals could be pro- 
duced by currents of electricity, in certain liquids prop- 
erly prepared and arranged. But the results seem to be, 
as yet, uncertain. Since vegetables and animals are 
merely atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, 
arranged in a peculiar manner, it does not seem too much 
to hope and expect that the mode in which this arrange- 
ment is produced may be discovered and imitated, as the 
natural magnetic arrangement is already imitated in 
electro-magnetism. 



156 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

Vegetables and animals are produced from parent 
forms, and are, in every essential respect, like their par- 
ents. Through countless ages they would continue to 
be reproduced like the original parents, provided they 
always lived in the same circumstances, and were oper- 
ated upon by the same stimuli. I use the term stimuli, 
and the word circumstances, in the same sense ; and I 
mean, by stimuli, anything and everything that affects the 
thing stimulated in the slightest conceivable degree, or in 
any conceivable manner. Now, all organs, vegetable 
and animal, are formed from oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, 
nitrogen, lime, &c., which have been so affected, stimu- 
lated, or moved from their former condition, as to become 
forced into their present arrangement and combinations. 
The forces that operated upon these simple elements, to 
move them into the organic ranks, I call stimuli, the 
sub-creators of organs, without which they could not 
have existed. These forces constitute the creative 
powers. The organs continue to exist so long as these 
forces continue to operate in such a manner as to pre- 
serve the organic arrangement of the atoms, and no 
longer. 

The form which the organs assume depends upon the 
directions of the forces which act upon the composing 
atoms ; in other words, it depends upon the operation of 
circumstances. Plants and animals that live in the 
water are affected in a different manner from those that 
grow in the atmosphere on land, and, therefore, they are 
differently formed by the operation of those circum- 
stances. Those that fly in the air are affected by those 
circumstances ; those that live in mountainous, in frigid, 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 157 

in torrid, in barren, or in prolific regions, are affected 
accordingly, and the atoms that compose them are moved 
or obstructed accordingly, so as to cause them to assume 
different forms, to adapt them to the things that affect 
them. 

Everything in existence is bathed in stimuli, and con- 
tinually buffeted, at every point, by other surrounding 
things, so that it must necessarily adapt itself to them. 
If we take a ball and place it where every part of its 
surface is continually chafed, and every part equally so, 
it will become smaller, but it will retain precisely the 
same form to the last. So, also, if the ball is placed in 
a liquid, the particles of which are continually being 
precipitated upon the surface of the ball, at every point 
equally, the ball will continually grow larger, but it will 
retain its form perfect to the last. But if the surface of 
the ball is not equally affected, one part receiving much 
and the other little of the precipitate, — one part being 
chafed and worn away, while the other is nourished 
by additions, — of course, under these circumstances, the 
form will change, until the inequality of action is discon- 
tinued. 

Now, in truth, almost, if not quite, every plant and 
animal is surrounded continually by things (stimuli) that 
affect one part more than another; and, therefore, a con- 
stant change is going on in their forms ; — a change 
which, though often imperceptible, may be measured by 
the inequality of the surrounding stimuli. There is, 
then, a continual attrition of everything by its neighbor- 
ing things ; so that each tends to conform to its surround- 
ing tormentors. The most perfect conformity must always 



158 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

necessarily be produced; — this is denominated adapta- 
tion, and is held up to the ignorant as a sort of miracle ; 
though, in reality, it is the necessary consequence of a 
very simple operation. 

The form of everything is, therefore, created by its 
surrounding stimuli, and adapted to them. The north 
sides of trees are rough non-conductors of heat, so as to 
protect them from the northern storms ; but the same 
storms created that very roughness. The hands of a 
blacksmith are covered with a hard, horny, callous sub- 
stance, which protects them from the fire, and enables 
him to handle, without pain, pieces of iron so hot that 
they would cause the greatest anguish to a person whose 
hands are delicate. Now, this beautiful adaptation of 
the blacksmith's hand to the hot iron was originally pro- 
duced by the hot iron itself. We know this, by observa- 
tion, and therefore do not deem it miraculous; but no 
one can reasonably doubt that the camel's foot received 
its peculiar form in the same way, by being, for many 
generations, irritated and stimulated by the loose and 
burning sands of Arabia. The same is true of the Afri- 
can's skin, the tiger's claws, the beaver's masonic tail, 
the duck's web foot, the owl's and the fish's eye; and, 
indeed, of every peculiar form in existence. 

The sub-creative power is continually at work around 
us, forming, changing, reproducing, and destroying. It 
is idle, then, to regard the adaptation of nature's produc- 
tions to each other as miraculous, unless we mean to 
pronounce, as we truly may, that the whole vast creation 
is one unlimited and incomprehensible miracle. There 
are many instances of adaptation of one thing to anoth- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 159 

er, the original creative causes of which are not under- 
stood ; and these instances are seized upon with avidity, 
by sophistical sectarians, to prove that the adaptation, in 
such cases, is the effect of miraculous creation. They 
argue that the creation must, in some instances, be 
miraculous, because we know of no other cause which 
is adequate to produce the result. Our ignorance is thus 
made the foundation of our faith, and the progress of 
knowledge is necessarily at the expense of our belief in 
the miraculous. The truth seems to be, that some of the 
marks of design, and some of the peculiarities of form 
and color, in man and other animals, were produced by 
causes that no longer operate upon them. Some organs 
seem to be reproduced with perfect regularity, which are 
apparently unessential to the functions of man; and 
others are even useless. For instance, the teats in 
males seem to be unnecessary, and no useful design can 
be seen. Shall this be deemed a blunder and an over- 
sight in the designer ? 

Having determined that organs are created and formed 
by the influence of the things that surround them, the 
next question is, 

3. HOW DOES STIMULUS EXCITE ORGANS TO ACTION? 

Stimulus excites organs by coming into contact with 
them, and changing the arrangement of their particles, 
and thus forcing a new arrangement. This definition 
will apply to all organs, from the crystal to the human 
brain. Whenever an organ acts, there is a change in the 
arrangement of its constituent particles, in consequence 
of external stimulus. Organs act by two modes : 1. By 



160 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

undergoing chemical changes of constituent atoms, as in 
the case of crystals, and some parts of vegetables and 
animals : 2. By fibrous contraction ; and the fibrous con- 
tractions are, in all cases, produced by chemical changes 
in the atomic organic arrangements. 

Chemistry is at the foundation of physiology; it is 
the only key to it; and it has been our ignorance of 
chemistry, and its relation to physiology, which has 
caused us to adopt so many superstitious and extrava- 
gant notions concerning the origin of the functions of 
human organization. 

Light is the stimulus that excites the eye and the optic 
apparatus to the performance of their functions. We can- 
not doubt that light produces changes in organic arrange- 
ments, since it is the cause of growth in vegetables, and 
the evolution of oxygen from leaves. Now, if such a 
delicate agent as light can make impressions upon our 
organs sufficiently powerful to produce chemical changes, 
we cannot doubt that any grosser agent can do so. Heat 
changes the atomic arrangement most effectually, and, 
of course, is a stimulus. Air enters the lungs, and com- 
bines with the blood, and thus produces a movement 
which sustains all other functions. Food enters the 
stomach, and enters into chemical combinations, which 
are equally essential. 

4. HOW DOES STIMULUS INCREASE THE SIZE OF ORGANS? 

Since stimulus created the organs at first, and has 
hitherto preserved them, it is plain that an increase or 
diminution in the power of the stimulus must be fol- 
lowed by an increase, or at least a tendency to increase 



THE PKOGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 161 

or diminution of the materials upon which it acts; it is 
an increase or diminution of the creative power in that 
direction. If there is an increase of the stimulus, and 
an abundance of material near, there will be an increase 
in size; but if there is an increase of stimulus, and no 
more material near, then there will be an increase in the 
intensity and activity of the organs. When, therefore, we 
see an animal or man acting with very great intensity, we 
may know that his race has been placed, for a long time, 
under stimulating circumstances, with limited resources, 
and were obliged to do the most with what they had, 
and thus the intensity of the organization has been created. 
Each organ seems to have a vortex, or sphere of influ- 
ence, which is in proportion to its size and the quantity 
of its stimulus ; and each organ seems to tend to bring 
as many particles within its sphere of influence as its 
stimulus will support. An addition of stimulus will, 
therefore, cause an addition to the number of particles 
which come within its vortex. It is now capable of re- 
ceiving still more stimulus, and then more material, and 
so on, indefinitely. Just as, in a whirlwind, a small 
vortex is created, which causes the particles of dust and 
air to arrange themselves in a certain manner ; if the 
wind increases in the requisite direction, the vortex Avill 
increase in size and power, and gather more and larger 
objects within its sphere of influence. Its power and 
size will tend to perfect harmony and adaptation of the 
objects to the form of the vortex. It is a common re- 
mark, that the increased action of an organ will cause 
an increase in its development of size; but it should also 
be remembered, that it will not have an increase of action 
14* 



162 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



without an increase of the power that stimulates to 
action. 

The rule seems to be, that increase of stimulus causes 
increase of size, or increase of intensity, in an organ. 
If there is sufficient material in good condition near, the 
excess of stimulus will expend itself upon that material, 
and thus increase the size of the organ; but, in this case, 
the intensity of action will not be increased ; for it is a 
rule here, as elsewhere, that what is gained in momentum 
is lost (or not gained) in velocity. Birds are so situated 
that they cannot conveniently increase their bulk beyond 
a certain point, without losing the power of flying; they 
therefore increase the intensity of their action, by having 
large cerebral and arterial apparatuses; while the ele- 
phant bestows the stimulus that he receives upon an 
immense mass of material, producing momentum, with 
corresponding want of velocity. 

This view of the relation of stimulus and material 
throws light upon the subject of temperament, and proves 
that, after the phreno-nervous energy is balanced by a 
given and proper amount of muscular, osseous, cellular, 
and fatty material, any excess of such material detracts 
from the energy of the character, because it is diffused 
through too large a mass. 

We have already seen that, if there was but one kind 
of stimulus, and that operated equally in all directions 
upon an organization, such organization would be simple 
and uniform, — it would be like one of the radiata. When 
the stimulus was uniform, in the early geologic ages, the 
animal organization was simple and uniform ; radiata 
predominated. The animal form in no case changed till 



i 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 163 

the stimuli changed. A modification of stimuli was soon 
followed by a modification of the organization which it 
affected. The mollusca seem to be radiata, obstructed 
and modified by carbonate of lime, which doubtless 
abounded at that time. . The articulata are radiata that 
are acted upon by stimuli irregularly, not from all di- 
rections equally, not with the same force all around, 
but powerfully from some directions, and weakly from 
others. Not only so, — the stimulus no longer comes 
directly, but, in consequence of various obstructions and 
refractions, it requires more complicated movements of 
the animal to receive the stimulus. This explains why 
the articulata has limbs of unequal length, and articu- 
lated so as to be able to execute more complicated move- 
ments. 

In the radiata, the mouth is in the centre, and the 
tentacula, or limbs, of nearly equal length and size, 
arranged at equal distances around. The articulata is 
oblong; the mouth at one end, the tail at the other; the 
limbs unequal in size, length, and complexity. The 
vertebrata is essentially like the articulata in all these 
respects, and would probably not be considered superior, 
if the mammalia had not been founded upon it. Origi- 
nally it was not superior to the articulata, for both had 
all the elements necessary for the condition of the earth 
at that time. 

The fish was the first vertebrate, (unless the worm 
may be classed as vertebral,) and his simplest and first 
form was such as to make him little, if any, above the 
radiata; his backbone gristly, and without articulated 
joints. As he grew more accustomed to hardships and 



164 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

complicated movements, his backbone became more con- 
solidated, and his joints more perfectly articulated. 
When he afterwards came into a more oxygenated at- 
mosphere, his arterial apparatus enlarged and expanded 
accordingly. When he came into a muddy medium, his 
fins turned to demi-paws, paddles, and claws ; and, when 
he came on land, to feet, — hoofed, toed, heeled, — to 
hands, fingered, thumbed. 

ORIGIN OF THE SENSES. 

Every animal, at the very commencement, must have 
been subjected to the stimuli that produced and em- 
ployed the five senses. 

Light must have impressed his conscious principle, and 
caused a movement in his nervous fibres. The atmos- 
phere must have vibrated, and communicated its vibra- 
tions to his nerves, producing sound. 

Sapid and odorous particles must have produced 
chemical changes, which affected his alimentary nerves. 

Contact with existing bodies must have also produced 
a movement in his nerves, and a consciousness which we 
call the sense of touch. 

Some of these senses, not being much needed, may 
have been little developed, while others were perfectly 
developed. The external organs of these senses were 
produced gradually by the mutual struggle of the light, 
air, odorous atoms, etc., with the organs which received 
and transmitted them to the sensorium. 

The very lowest animal had the senses in perfection ; 
the polypus had the sense of touch perfect ; the eyes of 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 165 

the trilobite cannot be surpassed, and the eye of the low- 
est vertebrate is as complicated and perfect as that of 
man. In this respect there has been no advance. All 
the nerves necessarily connected with these were also 
perfect. The spinal cord, the sensitive and motor 
nerves, and cerebral fibres convergent to the medulla 
oblongata, — all these were perfect in the first vertebrate. 
Why? Because the stimuli which created, preserved, 
and excited them to functional action, existed then, as 
now, in all its power. The stimuli which now calls the 
higher organs of the brain into functional action did not 
then exist; — no needy offspring, no government, no 
society, no winter, no change of seasons, no land ani- 
mals, no flowers, no fruits. 

In order to clearly understand how the brain received 
modifications of its form and structure by the various 
stimuli that appeared to act only on the external body 
of the animal, we must first have a clear notion of the 
relation which exists between the external body and the 
brain. It may be plainly stated thus : 

From the external parts of the body there are small 
white cords, which proceed to the base of the brain. 
These are nerves of sensation, which telegraph to the 
brain all impressions made on the external parts of the 
body. These impressions excite certain portions of the 
brain, so that an influence is transmitted from the brain, 
by another set of white cords, to the external parts of 
the body. These last cords are nerves of motion or 
volition; the influence which they transmit from the 
brain, is expended, principally, upon certain fibres called 
muscles ; and these muscles contract in a peculiar man- 



, 



166 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

ner, and thus produce movements in the external parts 
of the animal body, which movements are well calculated 
to answer the purposes for which the impression was 
sent up to the brain. 

From this simple statement it will be perceived that 
the nervous system, the brain, and the muscles of the 
body, are only parts of one apparatus of motion ; and 
that an impression upon the body is, to all intents and 
purposes, an impression upon the brain itself, since it is 
instantaneously conveyed there by telegraph, and quickly 
is answered by a discharge from the brain, which pro- 
duces muscular motion, such as is needed by the occa- 
sion. 

From this explanation it will be evident why any 
modification of the impressions (stimuli) made upon 
the body will cause a modification of the action of the 
brain, and tend to a modification of the structure of both 
body and brain at the same time. It is now plain why 
a destructive brain is of course accompanied with a de- 
structive limb, and destructive movements of the limb. 
Being all parts of one apparatus, so related and de- 
pendent that one part cannot move without the consent 
and participation of the other, it follows that if one 
part is stimulated to uncommon exertion, so as to draw 
an excess of nutritive material within its influence, and 
become larger in consequence, then, of course, all the 
dependent and connected parts of the apparatus will 
partake of the same advantages, and become larger, for 
the same reasons. This idea is at the foundation of the 
new science of phreno-physiognomy, as I explained in 
my first publication, and in which I undertook to show 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 167 

that certain forms of head, of face, and of body, are 
always found together. 

I think that I have thus entirely explained the question 
at the head of this article, viz., How does stimulus in- 
crease the size of organs ? 

5. What limits the size of organs? Why do they 
not grow to a monstrous size? 

The answer is, that the size is limited by 

1. The power of the stimulus. 

2. Quantity of material to be obtained. 

3. By the antagonistic force of rival organs. 

1. The power of the stimulus. I mean to be under- 
stood that, all other things considered equal, an organ 
will grow in proportion as it is stimulated to the per- 
formance of its functions; because it will thus increase 
the power of the vortex which causes particles to assim- 
ilate. 

2. The quantity of material near enough to be obtained. 
For, if there is an addition of causes of action of an organ, 
and no additional material to be assimilated, then the 
organ acts with more energy and intensity, but does not 
grow proportionately larger. 

3. The size of any organ is limited by the rival power 
of other organs consuming its nourishment. This I take 
to be the reason why some organs go out of existence 
entirely, viz., that they have no occasion for functional 
action, being furnished with no stimuli for that purpose, 
and the rival organs of the same class divert and absorb 
all the nutritive material. 

The vortex of an organ, or the sphere of its power of 



168 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

assimilating the nutritive material, is best illustrated by 
reference to the vast difference in size of a mammoth and 
a mouse, a minnow and a whale. One is born with a 
fundamental vegetative power of very great capacity, so 
that it can assimilate a large quantity of material to its 
own organization, while the other has a much less capa- 
city ; and, as all the voluntary organs are dependent upon 
the vegetative for material, they must have a regular 
and definite proportion in size to the vegetative capacity 
which is at the basis. If you ask me why the mouse and 
the ox became thus different in size, I would venture to 
suggest it as probable that originally all vertebrate ani- 
mals were of one size, but that some have been, for mil- 
lions of years, limited in the quantity of nourishment, so 
that, of course, they were limited in the capacity of 
receiving functional stimuli ; while others have been 
surrounded with both nutritive material and functional 
stimuli. Ages of continual practice have produced a law 
of the constitution, and confirmed a certain capacity of 
receiving nutritive material and stimuli, which does not 
easily change without requiring another immense period 
of time. There is no law in man, in body nor mind, 
which is not the result of long exposure of the organs to 
powerful external impressions. Therefore, there is noth- 
ing in body nor mind that is not dependent for its normal 
manifestation upon the same causes which produced it 
originally ; consequently, this is a test of the origin of an 
organ, a sure indication of the creative power that 
brought it into existence, and must be applied, in detail, 
to each phreno organ. This is the key to phrenology. 
The size of an organ indicates the capacity which it 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 169 

possesses of receiving stimuli, and it also tells us that 
this capacity itself is but the result of ages of functional 
activity in respect to such stimuli as it now needs. 

We learn, also, from this subject, that the time which 
it has taken any organ to acquire its present size, is not 
indicated ; for one organ may have been growing larger, 
and another smaller; a third may have gone out of ex- 
istence, and a fourth have come in, during the very same 
time; while others, perhaps, have continued the same 
size during the whole of the period. 

We learn from this subject, too, that it is by no means 
true that organs will grow larger merely because they 
are exercised. They must be exercised in a high degree, 
and nourished, also, in a high degree, and for a long 
time, in order to become permanently enlarged. I think 
it may reasonably be doubted whether a permanent con- 
stitutional change can, without violence, merely by nor- 
mal functional action, be wrought in one generation, 
sufficient to become obvious to the senses. There is 
nothing yet properly settled on this point; but it is cer- 
tain that sufficient stress has not been put upon the long 
periods which it has taken organization to assume its 
present form, complexion, and function. And I think it 
equally certain that organs do not grow in consequence 
of any duration of ordinary functional activity ; it will 
merely maintain them in statu quo. If they have less, 
they will degenerate ; if more, and are well nourished, 
they will increase ; otherwise not. 



170 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



SECTION XX. — PHRENO-PHILOSOPHY OF IDOLATRY. 

Stimuli is ordained, by the Supreme Creator, to be the 
sub-creator of organs. That kind and quality of stimu- 
lus which created an organ is its only appropriate stim- 
ulus; to apply any other is idolatry. Each organ of 
man may be the subject of a species of idolatry peculiar 
to itself. Whenever any organ is excited by an object 
which bears a deceptive resemblance to the true and 
legitimate object, but which is not, at the same time, 
essentially the true object, such action of the organ is 
idolatry. 

Sometimes the objects which originally called the organ 
into existence, and the objects that now excite it, although 
apparently different, are really essentially the same in 
effect and in utility. Thus, plants are probably the first 
creators of the alimentive impulse, and afterwards flesh 
was substituted. Since flesh answers the same purpose 
as plants, by actually nourishing animals, it would be 
improper to say that the use of flesh is idolatry. But 
tobacco, opium, alcohol, chalk, slate, and other deleteri- 
ous or useless articles, which are sometimes swallowed 
or chewed, — these do not operate as useful substitutes 
for food, and, therefore, their use is idolatrous. In this 
sense, the habitual use of camphor, ammonia, perfumes, 
ether, nitrous oxide, or chloroform, in the lungs, instead 
of common air, is idolatry, when not used as a proper 
medicine. Proper medicines are necessary to cure dis- 
eases, and Sanativeness prompts us to use them ; but all 
uses of improper medicines are idolatrous. 

This view of phrenology is exceedingly useful and 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 171 

interesting, as showing the relation which exists between 
an organ and its proper objects or stimuli. This subject, 
when viewed in its most comprehensive manner, involves 
the whole duty of man ; for it shows, or rather it aims 
to show, what are and what are not the true objects at 
which each organ should aim. 

The particular use of this investigation to the science 
of phrenology, at present, is to enable us to distinguish 
the true functions of the organs. It has often happened, 
in the history of phrenology, that the idolatrous action 
of an organ has been mistaken for its true and primitive 
function. This error has been promoted by the absence 
of critical rules by which to ascertain the true from the 
false objects which excite organs. 

We may divide the objects that excite organs into the 
sub-creative, the useful substitutes, the useless substi- 
tutes, and the injurious substitutes. The sub-creative 
are those that are believed to have originally required 
the organ to come into existence ; and this is, of course, 
the most natural and appropriate stimulus that any organ 
can have. The useful substitute is an object which so 
nearly resembles the sub-creative in its effects, as to be 
capable of answering nearly the same purpose. The 
useless substitute is an object that so nearly resembles 
the sub-creative, as to be capable of exciting the organ, 
but does not, to any useful degree, tend to the same 
result. This is illustrated when mackerel bite a piece 
of red baize, mistaking it for meat : and blue-fish are 
caught, in Rhode Island, by a bait of lead, which is 
made in the shape of a small fish, and which glistens 
like a fish. This is idolatry, — it is following a useless 



172 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



substitute, and being excited by it. Many of our noblest 
powers, instead of being excited by their proper objects, 
are led away by a species of useless substitute, like 
red baize and pewter fish. Injurious substitutes are 
those which, like opium, tobacco, and alcohol, excite the 
appetite powerfully, but only injure the constitution, 
which the appetite was made to preserve. 

With these preliminary remarks, I propose to briefly 
review the organs, and consider the various stimuli to 
which they are subject, and by which they are misled to 
idolatry. 

IPSEAL IDOLATRY. 

I. Pneumativeness. — Common air is its sub-creator ; 
its idols are ether, nitrous oxide, and chloroform, when 
not used as medicines. 

II. Alimentiveness. — Nutritious food, vegetable and 
animal, are its sub-creators ; its idols are poisons, opium, 
alcohol, tobacco, &c. 

III. Sanativeness. — Those operations and those sub- 
stances that prevent wounds and disease are its sub-cre- 
ators ; its idols are false or improper medicines and oper- 
ations. There is an immense amount of this species of 
idolatry, since it includes all kinds of quackery and 
injurious medical practice. It will at once occur to any 
one, that the real reason why people fall into any kind 
of idolatry is ignorance as to which is the true and 
which is the false stimulus. It is not to be supposed 
that any one in his sober senses will prefer to worship 
at a false shrine, knowing it to be so : no one will injure 
himself designedly, from the mere preference of self-in- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 173 

jury to self-happiness. The use of tobacco, alcohol, and 
opium, is generally begun in ignorance of its ultimate 
effects, and afterwards continued in consequence of the 
insanity which it produces. No man takes injurious 
drugs with the intent of producing injury, — it is the 
result of ignorance. 

IV. Destructiveness. — Its primitive function was to 
destroy animals for food. It is usefully employed in 
destroying anything, the destruction of which will ad- 
vance the happiness of its possessor. The objects thus 
destroyed are useful substitutes for the primitive stimuli. 
Its useless substitutes are the killing of animals merely 
for sport, and the exertion of useless severity. The in- 
jurious idolatry which springs from this organ, acting in 
ignorance, is revenge, — murder, and any other kind of 
destruction which brings a punishing reaction. It is a 
question whether public executions of our fellow-men 
are not instances of destructive idolatry, — a species of 
sacrifice to Moloch. Useless and unjustifiable wars 
come under the same head. 

V. Combativeness. — The primitive function seems to 
have been, to retain or obtain forcible possession of useful 
objects. All other kinds of contention are idolatry. 

VI. Secretiveness. — Primitively it assisted Destruc- 
tiveness in seizing and destroying for prey, or it assisted 
Cautiousness in avoiding enemies ; and this fact speaks 
plainly as to its true sphere: but deception, falsehood, 
and intrigue, to injure others unjustly, are idolatry. 

VII. Cautiotisness. — To avoid coming trouble. To 
fear dangers that have no real existence is idolatry. 

VIII. Constructiveness. — Its primitive function was 



1 74 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



to change the productions of nature from their original 
forms, to adapt them to useful purposes. Its idolatry is, 
to expend time and means (that might be better em- 
ployed) in useless ornaments and embellishments, which 
are not actual useful improvements. 

IX. Acquisitiveness. — Primitively, it merely stored 
provisions for winter, or some useful article for future 
use. Its idol is the useless accumulation of wealth. 

X. Experimentiveness, or Mirthfulness. — Its primi- 
tive function, in my opinion, was to try experimental 
and novel modes of accomplishing difficult operations. 
Its idolatry consists in sportive and foolish experiments, 
— in sacrifices to vain and useless novelties, — in changes 
and inventions without advantage, and not directed by 
intellect. 

Sport differs from idolatry in this, that it is not excited 
by false stimuli, — it is not delusion. Sport is useless 
and surplus action ; idolatry is erroneous action. Sport 
is imitative of true conduct; idolatry is false conduct. 
Sport depends upon leisurely circumstances, and the pos- 
session of active powers, which were originally created 
for useful and necessary purposes. All animals play 
when they are young, and are supported by their parents, 
so that they are not obliged to exert themselves seriously 
to get a living. The stimulus that excites them to play 
their powers is the same as that which excites them to 
serious acts; but, in one case, the stimulus acts upon a 
hungry animal, and therefore excites to earnest endeav- 
ors ; and, in the other case, the same stimulus acts upon 
a satisfied animal, who has no occasion to make any 
exertion, except to gratify the mere love of action, or to 



»d 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 175 

gratify an impulse to make an experimental trial of his 
powers. 

Perfectiveness. — Its primitive use was to improve 
operations which grew out of a crowded and compli- 
cated state of society. It was ipseal improvement, in 
the midst of society, for ipseal advantage. It originates 
the most improved methods of operating in the useful 
arts, and this constitutes the real essence of the fine 
arts; but arts merely ornamental, without utility, are 
idolatrous modes of manifesting this organ. 

Hope, or Migrativeness. — Its primitive function, J 
think, was, to migrate when the native home was inca- 
pable of affording happiness, which distant regions could 
furnish. It is usefully employed in many ways. Its 
idolatrous action produces the extravagant enterprises 
and superstitious aspirations after happiness, in distant 
regions and future times, that are unattainable. 

SOCIAL IDOLATRY. 

Amativeness. — Its primitive function was merely sex- 
ual intercourse ; its idolatry includes all kinds of amor- 
ous indulgences that have not for their tendency and 
object the reproduction of the species. 

Parental Idolatry. — The true function of Parentive- 
ness is, to cherish the young, tender, and helpless. Dolls, 
pets, and useless house-plants, are its idols. 

Inhabltiveness. — Its true and primitive function is to 
concentrate all the objects of interest and affection in a 
particular limited locality, which may be denominated 
home. 

What is commonly called Concentrativeness, is an 



176 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






effect of this impulse, excited by other objects besides 
home; or, rather, it is an incidental effect of this im- 
pulse, — it is a species of idolatry. Some persons seem 
to make an idol of their own narrow home, and consider 
all other parts of the earth's surface as barbarous, and 
unworthy of being ranked with " their own, their native 
land." This is sectional idolatry. 

Imperativeness or Self- Esteem. — The primitive func- 
tion of this organ was to assume authority over younger 
and weaker members of society : its idolatry consists in 
pride, and arrogance of authority over superiors. Any 
one who is imperious towards those who are beyond his 
power, is an idolatrous worshipper of himself. The sub- 
creator of this organ was the presence of inferiors : and 
a man who mistakes his equals or superiors for inferiors, 
seems to have an undue opinion of himself. This is 
idolatry. The true function leads to a true self-estima- 
tion when determining one's social position in respect to 
authority. 

Approbativeness. — Its primitive function was to get 
the good will of associates, in order to influence them, 
and thus add to our own consequence : it was at first an 
auxiliary of Imperativeness. Its idolatrous action con- 
sists in seeking applause which will not add to one's 
influence and power. Vanity, vain-boasting, and love 
of flattery. — these actually lessen, instead of increas- 
ing one's influence. This is idolatry. 

Firmness. — Its primitive function was to maintain 
consistency, and resist attempts to produce changes in 
one's social position, plans, or opinions. The idolatry 
of this organ consists in foolish and useless stubborn- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 177 

ness, — adherence to views and plans that are imprac- 
ticable. 

Justice or Conscientiousness. — The primitive function 
of this organ was, in my opinion, to deal impartially in 
governing others, instead of favoring self or friend. It 
was merely a governing social impulse. The idolatry 
which this organ commits is in consequence of ignorance 
and erroneous belief, mistaking the true objects of duty 
and of right. Ideal gods, demons, angels, various spirits, 
furies, ghosts, and other supernatural beings, have al- 
ways been the subjects of supposed duties, claims, and 
rights, and have received sacrifices of every kind, which 
were due to actual existing members of society, and to 
the one only and true God. 

Submissiveness. — This is the organ to which idolatry 
has been generally and almost exclusively ascribed. Its 
primitive function is precisely the reverse of that of Self- 
esteem. It recognizes superiors with pleasure, and bows 
humbly and promptly to the authority of parents, guar- 
dians, and magistrates. Its idolatry consists in recog- 
nizing beings as powerful, that, in reality, have no 
power, and sometimes beings that have no existence. 

Kindness or Benevolence. — The primitive function 
was to be courteous to strangers or slight acquaintances. 
The idolatry is mistaken philanthropy, and projects and 
plans for benefiting others, when, in fact, the contrary 
effect is produced in consequence of ignorance. 

Imitativeness. — The primitive function was to adopt 
the manners of associates and superiors. It is a social 
impulse, and its stimulus social beings. It produces 
sympathy. Its idolatry is to imitate improper actions, 






178 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

to sympathize with distress which we cannot relieve, and 
thus make ourself unhappy, without benefiting others. 
Imitation, in the ornamental arts, is often merely a wor- 
ship of idols that have no power for usefulness. 

Credenciveness. — The primitive function was to act 
upon the assertions of others who had superior opportu- 
nities of information concerning the things whereof they 
make the assertions. The idolatry of this organ is im- 
mense in amount and in importance. Its very nature 
predisposes to error, even in its legitimate operations; 
that is, when we believe those who have had oppor- 
tunities to know, and are desirous to testify truly. But 
when we believe improbable things which others cannot 
know better than we ourselves, we resign ourselves to 
the most shameful idolatry. 

Novel-reading is a species of credencive idolatry, for it 
is a powerful exercise of the brain, a pleasing titillation 
of the mind, and generally without any real use. 

INTELLECTUAL IDOLATRY. 

Intellectual idolatry consists in all false views and 
erroneous systems of philosophy. 

Perhaps it may be said that all idolatry originates in 
the errors and imperfections of intellect ; that is to say, 
that when the directive organs misdirect the impulses to 
improper objects, — to idols, — they are the causes of 
idolatry. Thus ignorance is the real cause of all idol- 
atry, and knowledge is the only cure. 

Superstition is an erroneous theory of the causes of 
phenomena, and can only be cured by a true theory. 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 179 

Knowledge is true stimulus, sent from surrounding 
objects, and properly modified by the organs through 
which it passes to the central consciousness. 

Superstition is idolatrous philosophy. It is peculiar to 
man, and arises from his unsuccessful attempts to explain 
surrounding phenomena. An intellectual people will 
possess an intellectual system of natural philosophy, or, 
in its place, they will substitute an ingenious and plau- 
sible system of superstition. If they do not know the 
cause of thunder, they will create an imaginary deity, 
and endow him with the thunder for his voice, and arm 
him with the lightning for an instrument of vengeance. 
If they do not understand the cause of rain, they will be 
likely to explain it by saying that there are windows in 
the sky, far above our sight, and that an imaginary 
being opens and shuts them at his pleasure, and thus 
pours down upon us the rain, which is there reserved in 
exhaustless fountains. Thus it is with all natural phe- 
nomena that are not understood; they are at once ex- 
plained by being attributed to the operation of some 
invisible being, whose character is often a mere carica- 
ture of those whose imagination creates him. Cruel 
people believe in gods like unto themselves, revengeful 
and tyrannical. The Chinese, being a vain and contem- 
plative people, believe in a deity who spends eternity in 
contemplating his own perfections. The gods of the 
ancient Greeks were as various as the genius of that 
remarkable people. The most popular gods were war- 
like, and so, also, were their most popular public char- 
acters. Jove was a thunderer ; Mars, and Bellona, and 
Apollo, and Vulcan, and even Juno, were warlike. 



180 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

Whatever a man would himself be, if he had unlimited 
power, that is just what he supposes his supreme idol to 
be. Such is human nature, that man must be, like a 
brute, insensible to the whole matter, or a profound phi- 
losopher, explaining all phenomena by referring them to 
natural laws, or he must depeud upon his genius to 
create invisible beings to preside over the mysterious 
operations that puzzle him. The history of superstition 
is almost identical with the history of true philosophy. 
The explanation of things which satisfies the mind of 
one leading character, is by him given to his family and 
neighbors, and becomes the superstition of his tribe. If 
this tribe becomes powerful, by success in wars of con- 
quest, their superstitions become more extensive and 
popular; the conquered nations worship the gods of their 
masters. Church and state being united, the extent of 
their peculiar religious influence is equal to their political 
power. Hundreds of millions are now taught and guided 
by doctrines, concerning the origin and destiny of man, 
which, but for the power of the sword, would never have 
spread beyond some obscure village. A peculiar set of 
doctrines, once established, naturally become interwoven 
with all the institutions and customs of society, and can- 
not easily be eradicated. If some man, possessing more 
intellect and independence than his cotemporaries, dis- 
covers their errors, and proclaims some novel truths 
concerning the laws of nature, he is met, not only by the 
superstitious prejudices of his times, but by their inter- 
ests and their love of power, which depend upon their 
maintaining existing institutions. Reformers can only 
succeed by being "wise as serpents, and harmless as 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 181 

doves;" and, even then, they pursue a perilous path. 
The success of a reformer will depend upon the degree 
to which his people are enlightened, and the adaptation 
of his new system to their peculiar condition. Savages 
cannot be suddenly transformed to savans. The progress 
of nature, in her reforms, is ever by the gradual work of 
ages. From a state of brutal stupidity, man first arose 
to superstition. Philosophy first appeared in the world 
in the form of a superstition. As knowledge increased, 
new sects arose, with new creeds, the results of experi- 
ence, observation, and reasoning. These new creeds 
were merely advanced stages of embryo philosophy. 
The priest and the philosopher wore the same robe. In 
all ages, science has been studied by priests more than 
by any other class of men ; but they have taught it under 
superstitious forms, adapted to the intellectual condition 
of the people. The Reformation of Luther and Calvin 
was merely intellect advancing in disguise, and declaring 
its independence of the opinions of former ages. The 
Reformation, indeed, commenced long before Luther was 
born, and has extended over all Christendom as well as 
heathendom. The Catholic Church, without abandon- 
ing any of its doctrines, has modified its practices, to 
harmonize with the more enlightened spirit of the times. 
The practices of the Romish Church are as mild and 
tolerant, at the present day, as those of the English, 
Scotch, or the Greek Churches. The Catholics of the 
United States are much more tolerant, republican, and 
forbearing of persecution, than some of their professedly 
reformed opponents. This is owing to the progress of 
knowledge. The Catholic Church is governed by men 



182 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

of superior minds, who have the sagacity to see the signs 
of the times. The Pope himself is now the great re- 
former of the Romish Church. The Pacha of Egypt, 
and even the Grand Turk, is among the ranks of mod- 
ern reformers. The Romish Church holds the same 
doctrines which it held in the times of Luther and the 
Inquisition ; the English Church teaches the same creed 
as when, by its authority, martyrs were publicly burnt 
for heresy ; the Calvinistic Puritans and Covenanters of 
Geneva, Scotland, and New England, hold fast to their 
ancient faith, but their stern tyranny has abated. Hu- 
man sacrifices are no longer offered up to the Christian 
God, upon Romish, English, nor Genevan altars. Witches 
are no longer burnt, Quakers are no longer hung, nor 
Baptists banished, to appease the conscientious vengeance 
of the Pilgrims of New England. What has produced 
these changes 1 It cannot be the influence of the Chris- 
tian religion, for they had that, in their day, as pure and 
perfect as it exists at present. There has been no new 
revelation. We have the same Bibles, the same creeds, 
the same temples, the same sermons, and the same cruel 
natures. Nothing has changed but the state of science. 
That has advanced, gradually but continuously modify- 
ing all the institutions of man. 

Superstition is the vague dream of a mighty mind, 
half awakened from its midnight slumbers. Science is 
the perception of that same mind awake to all the reali- 
ties of noonday. Superstition is a giant, naked and igno- 
rant, struggling in a darkened cavern, amid enemies and 
friends, whose forms are but imperfectly seen, and whose 
powers and designs are dreaded but not understood. Sci- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 183 

ence is the same giant, clothed in modern refinement, 
standing amid the full blaze of knowledge, with the 
press, the steam engine, and the telegraph at his com- 
mand, and clearly perceiving that God is his Father, and 
all mankind his brethren. 

Some men are constitution ally fitted to become the 
leaders of intellectual advances. They are the Knight 
Templars of science. Naturally bold, independent, am- 
bitious, and clear-headed, — when such men are in a situ- 
ation favorable to the acquisition of knowledge, but not 
too much tempted to sacrifice truth to policy, — when, 
at the same time, they have the good fortune to be sur- 
rounded by a people who can understand them and sym- 
pathize with them, and who will follow, though they 
have not the ability to lead, — then they achieve immor- 
tal deeds, and carve their names upon the memories of 
mankind. These are the acknowledged reformers of the 
world, — the Aristotles, Galileos, Newtons, and Frank- 
lins of mankind. Whoever else may have obtained titles 
and swayed sceptres, these are the true heroes and actual 
princes of our race. 



184 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



SECTION XXI. — OBJECTIONS TO THE "VESTIGES OF 
CREATION." 

The author of the "Vestiges of Creation" has at- 
tempted to establish several propositions in relation to 
the origin of things, and the laws of nature and of 
humanity, which deserve to be considered. 

1. He first introduces the nebulous theory of Herschel, 
and fortifies it by all the arguments in his power. I shall 
not attempt to controvert it; on the contrary, I am 
inclined to consider it as probable, though not proved. 

2. He next adopts the igneous theory of Liebnitz con- 
cerning the origin of the primitive rocks. This, also, 
may reasonably be admitted; for it is in accordance 
with the opinions of the most eminent geologists. 

3. Next he considers the origin of animals, and adopts 
the notions of most geologists concerning the great out- 
lines of paleontology. 

The professed object of the work is to establish two 
theories. One is the uniformity of nature's laws, and 
their jurisdiction over moral subjects, to the exclusion of 
all miracles and special providences. In regard to this, 
it is only necessary to say, that it is by no means novel, 
either in its positions or its arguments. It is the same 
doctrine that has been always maintained by anli-reve- 
lationists, in all ages, from the times of Zeno, the stern 
stoic of Greece, to the present day. Some Christians, 
even, — especially the Calvinists, — have been accused 
of favoring it, though they generally deny such inten- 
tions. The other idea, which the author of the "Ves- 
tiges" aims to establish, is a theory of progressive organic 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 185 

developmetit, by changes in embryo. This is new to me, 
though it may have been advanced before in some trea- 
tise which I have not seen. This theory must not be 
confounded with that of Lamark, which is, that animals 
changed to adapt themselves to circumstances, and that 
it is the movements of the animal against external things 
that gradually produce the change from one species to 
another. The author of the "Vestiges" refers to La- 
mark's views, and says, distinctly, that the organic ad- 
vancement certainly does not take place in the way that 
Lamark supposes. The author of the "Vestiges" does 
not charge the changes of animals upon the stimulating 
influences of surrounding things, after birth. His notion 
is, that an animal of one species produces an animal of 
another species, in consequence of some mysterious 
change which a mysterious law produces upon the em- 
bryotic egg, before the new animal is born. I cannot 
admit this theory of the embryotic origin and develop- 
ment of species. I find no solid reasons in its favor, and 
many against it. I consider the external circumstances 
of animals as the causes of their changes, and the sub- 
creators of their species. The changes which any ani- 
mal undergoes during its lifetime, before it becomes a 
parent, — these changes are impressed upon the organi- 
zation of its offspring, because the offspring resembles its 
parents as they were constituted at the time that the), 
became parents. Thus, if a man becomes insane, the 
children begotten afterwards might have a slight ten- 
dency to insanity, while the children begotten previously 
might be free from such a tendency. So, also, a man 
may live exclusively upon meat, and thus acquire a 



186 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



strong appetite for it, and his children may consequently 
be born with a stronger love for meat than if the parent 
had fed exclusively upon vegetables. This is merely 
combining the well-known doctrine, that "lile produces 
like," with another, which is equally well established^, 
that external circumstances change and modify organi- 
zation. I admit that important impressions may be 
made upon the embryo through the nervous system of 
the parent, producing deformities and idiosyncrasies 
which may be perpetuated and constitute a new spe- 
cies ; but this is not an exception to the rule, but rather 
a confirmation of the general principle, that external 
impressions are, under Providence, the sole creators of 
new developments and new forms of organization. 

The most serious objection to the " Vestiges," however, 
is the implied atheism it inculcates, by attributing every 
movement in the universe to the operation of a law which 
is immutable, infinite, and eternal; thus denying the 
existence of a special Providence, who superintends the 
operations of nature and humanity, and who suspends 
or modifies the laws of nature at his pleasure. I ack- 
nowledge that all science teaches that the laws of the 
universe seem to be unchangeable, as far as human ex- 
perience and research extend. But science does not and 
cannot prove that the laws of nature are in themselves 
unchangeable, if the Deity pleases to change them to 
accomplish an important moral result. And who shall 
say that the universe is not governed by a Being who 
has the power to exercise parental and discretionary at- 
tributes ? What science is there that can show at what 
moment and by what means a new law of nature goes 




THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 187 

into operation, at the will of the Great Lawgiver, which 
may modify or repeal any previous law 1 To say that 
the Deity governs nature by laws that cannot be changed, 
is the same as to deny the existence of a Heavenly Par- 
ent altogether. Is it not equivalent to atheism, to teach 
that, when God created the universe, he established cer- 
tain laws for its operations, and then left it to move on 
through all eternity, a perpetual machine, whose every 
and minutest movement was foreseen and unalterably 
predetermined ? Why should we pray to such a being ? 
— a Deity who, eternal ages ago, became the slave of his 
own immutable laws, and who, through all succeeding 
ages, can do nothing but execute the decrees by which 
he bound himself at first ! He is, of course, incapable 
of a miracle, or any other discretionary act. He is 
merely an impotent omnipotence!! 

No ! we cannot admit such a doctrine, without at 
once abandoning every religious idea. We must either 
believe in a God who possesses moral freedom, and who 
bestows a certain degree and kind of freedom upon some 
of his creatures, and holds them responsible for its exer- 
cise, or we must abandon ourselves to atheism. There 
is no alternative. I confess that I cannot understand nor 
explain the moral freedom of the Deity, nor of man. I 
know it is mysterious, but I nevertheless embrace the 
doctrine with pleasure, as the only refuge of humanity, — 
the only foundation upon which its noblest virtues can be 
raised, and its highest objects attained. We escape no 
logical difficulties by adopting the theory of immutable 
law, but we stultify our consciences and paralyze our 
energies with a hopeless and reckless fatalism. 



188 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



SECTION XXII. — INSTINCT IS HEREDITARY 
MEMORY. 

It is admitted that impressions made upon the organ- 
ism of the parents are not only retained by the parents, 
but are afterwards transmitted to the offspring. This 
being so, it should seem that the offspring are thus placed 
in the same condition to recall (recollect, repeat, or re- 
member,) the state of mind which the impression pro- 
duced as are the parents ; and any state of causes which 
would make the parent think of the same thing again, 
would make the offspring also think of the same thing 
again, with this difference, that the parent might think 
that he had once before had the same idea in his mind, 
but some of the offspring would have a similar idea, 
without recollecting ever having had it before. 

What we call instincts are certain inherited states of 
organization, which cause certain peculiar mental effects 
to follow external impressions. 

Why does a kitten, that has never seen a mouse, start 
and growl, under great excitement, the instant she 
smells one? Why does a puppy smell the blood of a 
chicken, and track it, and bark after it, though he never 
saw one, when a piece of beef produces no such effect 
upon him? Why does a horse start on smelling a lion 
or tiger in a caravan, or the skin of one of these animals, 
though he does not see, and has never seen one? We 
call it instinctive perception ; but we do not explain it as 
produced by any known process. To my mind, the 
reason is plain and obvious. The progenitors of the 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 189 

horse, the cat, and the dog, were frequently excited and 
frightened by the animal, — by the sight and smell of 
him, — and their organization was put into a peculiar 
and permanent state by the frequent and powerful im- 
pressions which he thus made. This state of organiza- 
tion was such, that the sight or smell of him again, years 
afterwards, would instantly be followed by the same 
ideas. Now, the offspring, inheriting the same organic 
peculiarities, would have the same capabilities; and, 
therefore, would (when the sight or smell of the object 
was present) possess and experience a state of mind 
similar to that which was formerly produced in the 
parent. Like produces like, and like causes produce 
like effects. 

The smell of a thing not only rouses the organ of Fla- 
vor to perceive what it is, but it rouses Cautiousness, San- 
ativeness, Destructiveness, or any other impulsive organ 
also, if the peculiar smell has, on other occasions, been 
roused in association with it. The odor operated di- 
rectly on the organ of Flavor ; this sent an impression 
to the phrene or sensorium, producing a consciousness 
of the flavor ; this impression was radiated or reflected 
to all the other phreno organs, from the central phrene, 
and excited those impulsives that were previously in the 
habit of being roused by the same cause, either in the 
present or in previous generations. Being thus roused, 
they impelled to actions that, in the parent, were called 
reasonable, but, in the offspring, were called instinctive. 
We have here a good illustration of the doctrine, that 
stimuli create organs, preserve them, and excite them to 
their functions. 



L90 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

Insanity, being hereditary, is another proof that the 
powerful impressions made on the brain of the parent 
are often transmitted to the offspring. All hereditary 
states of mind are of the nature of instincts. 

According to this view, instinct is the memory of the 
race, — a species of hereditary history of the experience 
of the whole race for ages past, impressed upon the brain, 
and transmitted thus to posterity for their guidance, 
when placed in circumstances similar to those in which 
this wonderful history was written. 

Take this conclusion in connection with the idea that 
some animals have a clairvoyant power of receiving and 
of communicating ideas, so that they can, at pleasure, 
impress upon the minds of their young their own ideas, 
and we are furnished at once with a beautiful key to the 
philosophy of instinct, and its harmony and analogy 
with the powers of human nature. 

The perceptive power of dogs when smelling their 
game or their master's footsteps, and the perception of 
direction manifested by carrier pigeons, and all the su- 
periority of perception manifested by the lower animals, 
are they not indications of an approximation to clairvoy- 
ance ? or, rather, are they not remnants of the clairvoy- 
ance which animals of still lower grade, in earlier times, 
possessed in perfection ? Are not the sympathy among 
polyps, the electric power of fishes, the mesmeric power 
of serpents, and the susceptibility of birds, still further 
evidence that, in earlier times, the mesmeric influence 
was greater 7 Is not Credenciveness a higher substitute 
for clairvoyant communication? Is it not the commu- 
nicative impulse, excited by the communications of 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 191 

others? Is not what is commonly called "natural ge- 
nius," identical with instinct? Has it not the same 
cause and the same effect 1 

Phreno-Geology seems to furnish explanations of the 
causes of instinct, genius, eccentricity, insanity, and all 
other traits of character in animals and men, which are 
exceedingly satisfactory, and which cannot otherwise be 
explained at all. 



SECTION XXIIL — HEREDITARY DESCENT. 

I have read all that I can find in the books upon he- 
reditary descent, but can learn very little that is satis- 
factory. It would seem that the ancients knew about as 
much upon the subject as we know at present, namely, 
that qualities and diseases are transmitted from one 
generation to another ; that like generally produces like ; 
and that intermarriages with near relatives are inju- 
dicious. It is a matter of universal observation that 
some children of a family resemble one parent, and some 
another ; and some resemble both, though in different 
degrees and in different features. Some children seem 
to resemble neither parent so much as they do some 
grand-parent, or great grand-parent, or some brother or 
sister of one of the parents. 

Diseases, also, are sometimes transmitted immediately 
from father to son. But, again, diseased parents have 
strong, healthy children, without any appearance of 
disease, yet the grandchildren are born with all the dis- 



192 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

eases of their grand-parents, aggravated in a fatal degree. 
We see a fine-looking man, living with great prudence, 
and marrying a wife, who seems to be the picture of 
health, with the hope to see his children blest with good 
constitutions ; and, from some cause yet unexplained, the 
sins of past generations are visited upon him, and his 
brightest jewels are torn from him. The children which 
are spared are generally those which seem least likely to 
do credit to his name. 

We see the greatest men in the nation, in some in- 
stances, with children that disgrace them by their vices, 
and show an utter inability to follow in their footsteps to 
distinction. We see clergymen whose sons seem deter- 
mined to be mechanics ; and mechanics, whose sons are 
bent upon some learned profession, and look upon the 
employment of their fathers with utter aversion. 

All the plausible theories that have been invented fail 
to account for these facts in a reasonable manner ; and it 
is plain, to my mind, that we have yet something more 
to discover before we can unravel the mystery. 

I announced, in 1839, a discovery which I had made, 
that persons who greatly resembled the parent of the 
same sex as themselves were generally smaller than that 
parent in brain and body, and possessed somewhat less 
of the qualities that distinguish the opposite sex. Thus, 
a masculine-looking woman, whose daughter resembles 
her very much, and not the father nor his family, will 
generally be smaller, and shorter, and more feminine in 
features and character, than her mother. Her chin will 
be narrower, her nostrils smaller, her complexion less 
florid, her chest less developed, and her firmness and 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 193 

courage less. On the contrary, a son resembling the 
same mother will have a large head and body, with 
most of the gentle traits of his mother, and even more 
than her energy. He will be likely to be a superior 
character, especially if her father was so ; for superior 
women generally resemble the father, and superior men 
the mother. This same mother may have another son 
who resembles neither his brother, nor his sister, nor his 
mother, in appearance or character, but to his father he 
bears a striking resemblance ; and, if his father is a su- 
perior man, hopes are entertained that he will resemble 
his father in his traits of character ; but the chances are 
that these hopes will be disappointed, for he will be 
smaller than his father, though more active and sprightly. 
His head will be smaller, and his literary tendencies less ; 
for he is deficient in the feminine points which are neces- 
sary to give a literary bias to the mind. 

These rules are only generally true. Causes, which 
are not yet understood, seem to operate to produce ex- 
ceptions, which I cannot explain. 

Mr. Alexander Walker has published a work in which 
he labors to show that every person derives all his loco- 
motive organs from one parent, and his nutritive organs 
from the other; that the back of the head is derived 
from one parent, and the front from the other. But I 
have not seen an observing person who agrees with him, 
and my own observations, certainly, do not confirm his 
doctrines. I have seen many persons whose organiza- 
tions seem to be a perfect mixture of the peculiarities of 
both parents. The mulatto is, almost always, a nearly 
equal compound of the characteristics of the whites and 
17 



194 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

blacks, not only in color, but in feature, in brain, and in 
everything else. I have seen a man who resembled his 
father in nothing, that I could perceive, except in the 
singular manner in which his hair grew around his fore- 
head. I have seen a man resemble his mother in nothing 
that could be perceived, and yet inherit her constitutional 
diseases. I have seen persons, born of weak and dis- 
eased parents, whose health and constitutions were sound 
and powerful ; and I have seen miserable and diseased 
constitutious descend from parents and grand-parents of 
uncommon health and vigor. 

Notwithstanding the universal prejudice which exists, 
and has always existed, in regard to the intermarriage 
of cousins, we often see persons of the most splendid 
qualities whose ancestors have committed this error. 
The laws of hereditary descent are yet but imperfectly 
known ; and, in respect to those rules which are best 
understood, it would seem that the exceptions are so 
numerous and important, that we ought to be exceed- 
ingly careful how we adopt them as a guide in practice. 

It has always been acknowledged, even by the most 
widely separated tribes of men, that physical, moral, and 
intellectual qualities are, in general, hereditary. But the 
most enlightened philosophers know very little more on 
the subject than the North American Indians did when 
they were first discovered. Who can tell why or how a 
disease, a feature, a talent, or a moral trait, is commonly 
transmitted from the father through his daughter, rather 
than his son; and why it sometimes passes by one or 
two generations, and reappears in a third or fourth? 
It would seem that a man is made up of all the capa- 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 195 

bilities of all kinds that were possessed by his ancestors 
for several generations, and those which he cannot man- 
ifest, he can transmit to his offspring. 

If I might suggest a theory of hereditary descent, I 
would say that each person is composed of an immense 
number of organs, and that each organ is constituted of 
a number of germs, each of which is capable of being 
developed into a distinct organ. An equal number of 
the germs are received from each parent; and, though 
only one of the germs is actually developed in one per- 
son, the others continue to exist in a dormant state, and 
are transmitted to the offspring, and developed in them ; 
so that one of the germs of an organ may be developed 
in the parent, another in his child, and a third in his 
grandchild ; and, as each of these three germs may have 
been originally created in three different ancestral consti- 
tutions, they may, when placed in the circumstances 
which develop them in the offspring, produce three 
different kinds of constitutions, one of which may be 
healthful, another diseased, and a third marked by some 
striking peculiarity, which distinguishes it from all the 
family except the one from whom it was originally de- 
rived. Assuming this hypothesis to be correct, we can 
understand how it is that a person may have about an 
equal number of the germs derived from each parent de- 
veloped, and thus resemble both parents; or, he may 
have most of his developments from the germs of one 
parent, or from a grandparent. Whatever may be the 
objections to this theory, it has at least the merit of 
including and explaining all the known facts relating to 
this subject. 



196 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






SECTION XXIV. — RELATION OF THE TEMPERA- 
MENTS TO GEOLOGY. 

The first created animals were, unquestionably, nearly 
allied in character to vegetables. They had no red blood ; 
the lymphatic vessels and the cellular tissue greatly pre- 
dominated. Their temperament was cellular and lym- 
phatic. This is the lowest and least intellectual tempera- 
ment that can be conceived. 

I consider vegetables as but a lower order of animals ; 
and it would not be difficult to establish several degrees 
of approximation of vegetables, from their simplest forms, 
gradually ascending, till they assume undoubted animal 
functions ; and then, from this lowest animal point, we 
may proceed by regular steps, such as a good physiolo- 
gist alone can appreciate, to the dignity of humanity. 

There have been many attempts to show that there is 
a succession of links which connect, in a regular series, 
the lowest organized beings with the highest. These 
attempts have been only partially successful, for the 
reason that respect has been had principally to the 
external forms of animals, while the essential internal 
functions ought to have been the main consideration. 
If we confine our investigation to the functions of organ- 
ized beings, we shall indeed find that there is an actual 
and true chain, which, in regular and successive links, 
does connect the first created and lowest organized beings 
with the most exalted specimens of human genius. The 
temperaments of the lowest animals are almost identi- 
cally the same as of vegetables, namely, cellular and 
lymphatic. The very lowest, first created, and simplest 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 197 

of the fishes had regular muscles and a small quantity 
of dark venous blood, but the colorless fluids still pre- 
dominated. The reptiles had more colored blood, in 
proportion to the quantity of the other fluids, than the 
fishes had, for the reason that they respired more air. 
The first created birds surpassed the reptiles in regard 
to the quantity of colored blood, and also in the size of 
the brain. Man does not surpass other animals in the 
quantity or quality of any of his fluids, or his muscles ; 
indeed, he is surpassed by birds in the aeration of the 
blood, and by many insects in the delicacy, the number, 
and the complication of the muscles; but man is be- 
lieved to be superior to all animals in the size of the 
brain compared to the rest of the nervous system, and 
also in the number of his higher phreno powers. I am, 
therefore, disposed, in view of the above facts, to arrange 
•the temperaments in the order of their creation, as 
follows : — 

1. The cellular and lymphatic. 

2. The muscular and venous. 

3. The muscular and arterial. 

4. The arterial and phreno-nervous. 

5. The phreno-nervous, or human temperament, which 
is developed in man more than any other animal, and 
most of all in the most intellectual men. 



198 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



SECTION XXV. — RELATION OF PHYSIOGNOMY TO 
GEOLOGY. 

In the year 1839, I published, in the city of Buffalo, 
a volume of three hundred pages, illustrated by eight 
pages of lithographic plates, entitled U A New System 
of Phrenology," and devoted one small section and one 
of the plates to some original observations which I had 
made upon the relation of the forms of the face to the 
developments of the brain. This relation I denominated 
phreno-physiognomy. I found that animals and men 
may be divided into three classes, — carnivorous, herbiv- 
orous, and rodentia; or, flesh-eaters, plant-eaters, and 
fruit-gnawers. 

The carnivorous have large Destructiveness, with 
short jaws, short noses, and short ears; the central 
front teeth short and small, and the centre of the lip de- 
ficient, thin, or turned up towards the nose; the tearing 
teeth (bicuspid) large and strong, and the jaw much de- 
veloped where these teeth are inserted. In mankind 
there is a tendency of the chin to be prominent, short, 
and slightly turned up, in carnivorous characters. 

The herbivorous have small Destructiveness, long jaws, 
at least four long front teeth, rather wide mouths, long 
noses, (long from the eyes to the teeth,) the tearing teeth 
either entirely wanting or comparatively small, and the 
jaws narrow at the part where the tearing teeth are in- 
serted ; long chin, and not remarkably prominent ; the 
lips long in front, and pouting in the centre. 

The rodentia have small Destructiveness and large 
Acquisitiveness; the two central front teeth long, and 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 199 

the next two shorter or absent, while the tearing teeth 
are wanting or diminutive. 

The lips, in all animals and men, have a tendency tc* 
be most developed over the largest teeth : and the jaws,, 
also, are most developed where the largest teeth are in- 
serted. The expression, that is, the movement, of the 
lips is such as to favor the predominant trait. In the 
carnivorous, the movement, or expression, is principally 
with the corners of the mouth, and is such as to be fa- 
vorable to tearing flesh. In the herbivorous, it is such as 
is favorable to grazing, or gathering in leaves with the 
front lips, and to drinking water by suction. The car- 
nivorous animals are all so deficient in front lips, that 
they are forced to use the tongae to take up their drink; 
but the herbivorous animals can use the lips to suck up 
the water which they require. The movement of the 
rodent lips is such as to favor the act of gnawing. 

When a man has jaws, teeth, and nose like one of 
these classes of animals, it may be observed that he has 
a head which approximates, also, to theirs in its outlines ; 
and he has a tendency to move the muscles of his face 
in expression, so as to resemble them. The manner in 
which the hair grows around the face of a man will 
also be found to resemble the manner in which it grows 
around the faces of the class of animals that he most 
resembles in other respects. The females of all animals 
are less carnivorous in their characters, forms of head, 
and forms of jaw, lips, teeth, and chin, than the males 
are. Among the quadrumana (monkeys and apes) there 
is quite as great a variety of forms of face as among 
men : but I have not had an opportunity to study their 
faces sufficiently to class them correctly. 



200 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 






I consider these various forms of face as the results of 
the various circumstances which have operated upon 
different tribes and races of men. I have no idea that 
these differences have been produced in historic times. 
It is much more probable that most of the peculiar forms 
originated at a time when men lived in a more rude 
manner than at present; when, in short, men were no 
higher than the most intelligent brutes are now. These 
forms of faces were produced then by the manner in 
which they lived and procured their food, and by the 
peculiar nature of the food which they were accustomed 
to feed upon. Some, probably, were for ages carnivorous 
in their habits ; others, living in a different country, be- 
came herbivorous, and others rodents : and thus acquired 
physiognomies analogous to those of the animals whom 
they resemble. They adopted the habits of a particular 
class of animals ; and, of course, as a natural 'conse- 
quence, they acquired similar expressions at first, and 
similar anatomical forms of face after a number of 
generations. 

Civilization, also, has its own peculiar physiognomy: 
the forehead high, wide, and prominent in the upper 
part ; deficient perceptives ; small and weak jaws ; poor 
teeth, but regular; prominent eyes ; straight and regular 
nose, and slender nostrils; — in short, a highly intellectual 
head, light complexion, fine, silky, curly hair, and beau- 
tiful, small, regular Grecian features, indicating vari- 
ety of talent and genius, but not much strength or animal 
force. Such a face and head would be the legitimate 
result of ages of refinement, and the use of artificial 
means of living. Contrast this face with the powerful 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 201 

jaws, dark complexion, coarse hair, and forehead re- 
treating and deficient in width at the upper part, which 
distinguish the New Holland savage. I do not hesitate 
to say that it would require a hundred thousand years, 
at the ordinary rate of progress, to bring this savage to 
the condition of an ultra-refined genius of civilization, 
such as Shakspeare. 

This subject requires an immense volume of scientific 
illustrations; but I must content myself, at present, with 
indicating the general principles which should guide 
future investigations. 



SECTION XXVI. — CAUSES OF THE SUPERIORITY OF 

MAN. 

In what does the superiority of human organization 
consist ? Gall and Spurzheim contended that it consists 
in a superior organization of brain, — in the possession 
of certain cerebral organs, which no other animal enjoys. 
Sir Charles Bell wrote a beautiful treatise upon the supe- 
riority of the human hand, and insisted that it contrib- 
uted, in a high degree, to the superiority of human skill. 
Some other philosophers have argued that it is the power 
of using articulate speech to which man is most indebted. 
A majority, however, attribute man's peculiar eminence 
to the possession of an endowment of mind which exists 
independently of organization. This last idea will never 
be admitted by any man who is well instructed in the 
elements of phreno-physiology ; for it is now well estab- 
lished, that every manifestation of mind depends upon 



202 PHRENO-OEOLOGY. 

the condition of the brain, the nerves, the muscles, and 
the blood-vessels, which are concerned in the operation. 
It is evident that no condition of the bodily organs, — no 
degree of perfection in form, delicacy, or strength, — will 
be of any avail, if the brain is imperfect. This is illus- 
trated in the cases of many idiots, whose brains have 
become weakened or paralyzed by disease, while every 
other organ in the constitution is perfect. It is equally 
clear that the most highly developed and perfect brain 
would be of no advantage to a man who had the limbs, 
head, and vocal organs of a horse. It would be impos- 
sible for him to manifest the powers of mind peculiar to 
man. He would only be a sagacious and teachable 
horse. He could not even let us know that he possessed 
a mind superior to a horse. The superiority of an ape 
consists not in his possessing a brain superior to other 
animals, but in the approximation of his bodily organs to 
those of man. I have seen dogs that surpassed, in sa- 
gacity, any monkey whose habits I ever had the means 
of studying; but the organization of the monkey gives 
him the means of imitating man so nearly, as to make 
him appear to be more intellectual than he really is. 

The great defect of the monkeys, and of all the quad- 
rumana, is, that they cannot use articulate speech. They 
are so dexterous in the use of their hands, that man has 
not much advantage of them in that respect; but it is in 
speech that man takes an immense stride beyond all 
other animals. This enables him to cultivate his mind, 
and thus causes his brain to expand in the highest parts. 
I am much inclined to think that the mental superiority 
of man was, under Providence, in a great measure a 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 203 

consequence of the endowment of articulate speech. We 
see some savage men, whose brains are not a whit supe- 
rior to those of some monkeys ; yet, by means of lan- 
guage, we can unquestionably improve them gradually, 
from generation to generation, until they can equal the 
highest philosophers which civilization has produced. I 
have no hesitation in saying that nothing is wanting but 
sufficient time and proper circumstances, to transform 
the lowest negro savages to the highest degree of intel- 
lectual and moral refinement which the Caucasians have 
ever attained, or can attain. The defect, in savages, is 
in the organs of the brain, and not in the organs of 
voice, nor in the limbs, nor in the want of an erect posi- 
tion. The lowest and meanest human organization, 
provided it is normal and healthful, contains the germs 
from which every noble production of humanity can be 
developed. This subject is worthy the attention of those 
philanthropists who look forward to the future with hope 
for the perfection of humanity. An acquaintance with 
these principles is also calculated to excite a charitable 
feeling towards the worst members of society, and to 
lead us to inquire whether the sins for which they are 
punished did not originate with their ancestors, and 
whether an application of the proper stimuli, in youth, 
might not have saved them from the fate of criminals. 
How high the human mind is still destined to soar, in its 
future developments, it is impossible at present to deter- 
mine; but it may be set down, as a settled and estab- 
lished result of science, that the highest point to which 
any man has attained, in any respect, may be reached 
by the posterity of the lowest, the darkest, and the worst 



204 



PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 



of the human race. But how much of this can be 
accomplished in one generation, can be judged best by 
considering the rate of progress, during past ages, when 
circumstances were most favorable for advancement. 

It is natural, in this connection, to inquire whether it 
is now possible, by any artificial means, to gradually 
cultivate the most intellectual of the apes, so as to ele- 
vate them to humanity. Can they be made to speak 
articulate language? It is difficult to answer these ques- 
tions. It may be that the peculiarity of the human vocal 
organs, upon which articulation is founded, was acquired 
immediately after our progenitors abandoned the ocean 
and began to breathe with lungs. Perhaps that was the 
very period most favorable for the creation of articulat- 
ing vocal organs, and that the progenitors of man alone 
were so circumstanced as to have their vocal organs 
stimulated to this change. The other animals having 
passed that important reptilian stage in their progress 
without undergoing the necessary modification, it may 
now be nearly impossible to acquire it, even with all the 
aid of human ingenuity, without a more perfect knowl- 
edge of the modus operandi of nature than we at present 
possess. There is, however, in the articulations of 
parrots some ground of encouragement ; and when we 
consider the wonderful progress of discovery and inven- 
tion during the last century, who shall say how much 
may yet be done that now seems impossible, except by 
miraculous means? The full extent of the power of 
cultivation is not yet known ; but enough is understood 
to excite the strongest hopes, and raise the most sanguine 
expectations, concerning future achievements in creating 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 205 

and modifying the organization of men and animals. 
The transformation of the most intelligent and moral 
brutes, to raise them up to an equality with the most 
brutish men, would not be much more wonderful than 
the elevation of such men to the highest rank of human 
excellence. 

Before mankind were sufficiently advanced to build 
monuments and write hieroglyphics, they had no means 
of transmitting to posterity the history nor the means of 
their progress. A race of savages might have lived on 
earth millions of years before any of them learned to 
communicate the fact of their existence to their posterity. 
New Holland is an immense country, which, when first 
discovered by the whites, was - inhabited by a race of 
men who may have been there but five hundred years. 
or they may have been there since the commencement 
of the tertiary period. They could give no history of 
themselves which extended more than three generations 
back. They had no monuments, not even villages ; no 
arts, no clothes, no religion. They were too low in the 
scale of intelligence to be capable even of an intelligible 
superstition. They were quite as low as brutes, though 
they had human capabilities of improvement, which 
entitled them to fraternal sympathy and Christian benev- 
olence. If we wish to carry our imaginations back to 
the time when all men were mere brutes, we have only 
to picture them to ourselves in the precise condition in 
which the New Hollanders actually were when first 
discovered. We have no evidence that they were ever 
higher ; and if we wish to trace the steps by which man- 
kind arose to their present eminence, we have only to 



206 PHRENO-GEOLOGY. 

survey the earth, and arrange its inhabitants according 
to their different stages and degrees of refinement and 
social elevation, from the groves of Australia to the 
temples of New England. 

The first circumstance which contributed to the 
superiority of man, was his walking on two feet, thus 
acquiring the liberty of his hands, and redeeming them 
from the degrading employment of sustaining the weight 
of the body. No longer rendered callous by being 
brought into contact with the ground, they could now 
become delicate and sensitive instruments of apprehen- 
sion and mechanical execution. This enabled man to 
excel all other animals in mechanical structures. The 
development of the thumb enables man to hold an instru- 
ment in his hand, and use tools with a degree of dex- 
terity which no other animal can. Then the use of 
articulate speech enabled man to communicate his ideas 
and experiences in a way much superior to other ani- 
mals, so that he would soon become lord of the earth as 
a natural consequence of these advantages. The faculty 
of speech laid the foundation of the art of writing, of 
history, of literature, of mercantile accounts, and of the 
modes of transferring the experience of one generation to 
the next, and thus accumulating the experience of ages 
upon all subjects. It laid the foundation for the Chris- 
tian religion ; for, without it, revelation could not have 
been received and recorded. The mind of man, without 
this mode of expression, would have been "cribbed, 
cabined and confined," so that it could not have ex- 
panded, in any degree, beyond that of an ape. But this 
stimulus of articulation, being created for man's use, 



THE PROGRESSIVE CREATION OF MAN. 207 

became in its turn the creator of a thousand elevating 
points in human character and society. Take away- 
human speech, and the human mind would gradually 
descend from its proud eminence to brutality, with 
the most inevitable certainty; nor could it ever 
Teascend until its noblest instrument was restored. 

Note. — The preceding pages on Phreno-Geology were published 
thirty years ago. In several passages the idea is expressed that the 
cooling of the globe modified the constitutions and instincts of ani- 
mals. Further investigation has changed this opinion. It now 
seems more probable that it was the gradual elevation and extension 
of the continents, and the consequent diversities of climate and 
scenery, that produced many of the changes in the various species 
of animals. 

To those who object to this essay because it is founded upon 
phrenology, the author would reply that, after forty-five years of 
almost constant phrenological practice, he considers himself more 
competent to form a correct opinion concerning that science than 
those who, by their scepticism, betray their ignorance, and, 
consequently, their inability to pronounce a just and intelligent 
verdict. Modern science is founded upon observation and induction. 
No science has had more numerous or more competent observers ; 
and, however much they may differ in regard to minor and unessen- 
tial points, they all, without exception, agree that at least twenty-five 
of the organs announced by Gall were correctly located and defined 
by him. If phrenology were not true, such unanimity would be 
impossible. 






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